Thursday,
January 15, 2004
| Lady
Frogs’ success continues By Brent Yarina Sports Editor The Lady Frogs’ basketball team has entered uncharted territory. Never, in the history of the women’s basketball program, have the Lady Frogs held a higher ranking as they do now: No. 18 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 17 in the Coaches Poll. Head coach Jeff Mittie says the team is not satisfied by having the program’s highest national ranking, instead, the players know their work is far from complete. “There are a lot of things we can improve upon,” Mittie said. “I’m excited about this team. We aren’t by any means a finished product.” He said the team must not worry about moving up or down in the rankings, because if they can continue to win, everything else will fall into place. “We realize that if we win, those (rankings) will take care of themselves.” Instead, Mittie said the Lady Frogs are more focused on getting back to the practice court, having just completed a six game schedule in the last 13 days. “Our focus is on getting better as a basketball team,” he said. “We don’t even talk about rankings. We haven’t since they first came out.” And, at that time, the Lady Frogs found themselves ranked No. 24. Mittie said he credits the team’s recent climb in the polls to its great team leadership, in particular that of Tracy Wynn and Ebony Shaw, and a collection of different players stepping up this season. “Wynn and Shaw have been great at taking the pressure off the younger players,” he said. “They have made it easier on everyone.” |