Friday, January 31, 2003
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Guards look to limit turnovers Replacing
a team leader in assists and steals is never easy. But that is exactly
what the Lady Frogs have to do this season. Guard
Ashanti Nix, whose eligibility ended last year, recorded 79 steals
last season, the most of any Lady Frog since 1987. She
was also named the team’s Defensive Player of the Year along
with junior guard Ebony Shaw last season. Senior
Candace Baldwin and junior Kim Ortega now switch off between the
No. 1 guard position. “(Nix)
left big shoes to fill,” Baldwin said. “We’re working
on it every day, and I think we’re doing a good job at it.” Baldwin
leads the team in assists (53) and steals (31) and has significantly
increased her minutes a game this year. Last season, Baldwin averaged
20 minutes a game but now ranks third on the team in minutes played
with 26 a game. “Candace
is a strong physical point guard,” said head coach Jeff Mittie.
“She has been outstanding at times, and she has done a little
of everything for us.” When
Baldwin is off the court, Ortega has done well matching her numbers.
A transfer student from Seward County Community College, Ortega
is second on the team in assists (31) and steals (30) all while
averaging just 17 minutes a game. Ortega made her first season start
Sunday against Charlotte. “There’s
always going to be an adjustment from junior college,” Mittie
said. “She’s played well, and I think she’s starting
to come around.” “We’re
trying to find a happy medium with our point guards,” Mittie
said. “They’re not pressured to score every time, but
they can score when we need it.” Both
Ortega and Baldwin, however, do lead the team in turnovers. TCU
averages 20.7 turnovers a game, 1.5 more than last season, and its
opponents average 19.3 turnovers a game. “We
just need to take care of the ball better,” Ortega said. “We
need to concentrate on the easy pass instead of the pass that almost
gets there.” And
while Nix also led the team in turnovers, she compensated with assists.
Nix recorded a 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio, but neither Ortega
nor Baldwin has more assists than turnovers this season. Senior
guard Tricia Payne is the only starter with an assist-to-turnover
ratio more than one. “We’ve
tried to simplify things so that they’re not thinking so much,”
Mittie said. “Then, they can just go out there and play basketball.” Drew
Irwin |
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TCU Daily Skiff © 2003 |
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