East Central women get national notice with No. 17 ranking

By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
Jan. 29, 2004
DECATUR The NJCAA basketball poll is an inexact science at best.
Case in point: The East Central Community College Lady Warriors were ranked 16th a week ago, but dropped to 17th in the Jan. 27 poll despite going 3-0 last week. Apparently, none of those wins were reported as the ECCC record still stood at 11-2 according to the latest poll.
In fact, the Lady Warriors enter tonight's home game with Pearl River Community College sporting a 16-2 mark. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
"It's good to get recognized," said ECCC women's head coach Brad Hodge, 45-24 in his third year with the Lady Warriors. "It rewards the kids for the work they've put in this year and in the fall and the additional year for the sophomores.
"But the only thing that really matters is the division record which is 6-1. The one good thing about junior college basketball is there is no BCS rating. It's who can win in the end and everybody that gets to the playoff has an equal chance."
The top four teams from each division qualifies for the state tournament, Feb. 23-26. Eight teams advance to the Region 23 Tournament, March 1-4. Only the region winner advances to the national tournament at Salina, Kan.
Several factors have been a part of ECCC's success.
"There's depth, there's balance, but there's also experience," Hodge said. "We've got eight sophomores that have been through it. The old saying in the league is that you'd rather have sophomores that have ridden the bus than freshmen with talent."
The sophomores are 6-foot forward Kimyatta Viverette (9.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg), 5-foot-11 forward Ebone'e Leverette (4.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg), 6-foot post Lenore Gray (12.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg), 5-foot-11 guard/forward Monique Overstreet (3.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg), 5-foot-7 guard Britney Burks (3.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg),
5-foot-9 guard Rita Birden (9.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg), 5-foot-9 forward Hope Murray (1.6 ppg, 0.9 rpg), and 5-foot-10 forward Miranda Rosar (2.4 ppg,, 1.8 rpg).
"Bringing back eight experienced players has helped," Hodge said. "And we've brought in a great freshman class. We've been pleasantly surprised, maybe even overwhelmed, with the contributions some of our freshmen have given right away."
The five freshmen are 5-foot-4 guard Kristen Chaney (10.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.5 apg), 5-foot-7 guard Roxana Rogers (3.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg), 5-foot-7 guard Kim Cox (3.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg), 5-foot-9 guard/forward Kotreece Bender (6.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.1 apg), and 5-foot-10 forward India Backstrom (3.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg).
"It's probably the deepest team we've had," Hodge said. "There's not much dropoff. I don't think there's any All-American in this group, but we've got a tremendous class and on any given night it can be somebody else that gives us that contribution."
To back that up, 10 of the 13 players have scored in double figures at least once this season. The highest point total by any player is 23.
"We've got 13 on the roster and 12 play every game," Hodge said. "The 13th one has started at times. My goal is to play all 13."
While the Lady Warriors have been successful most of the season, their two losses were to Pearl River and Holmes, both of which are in the middle of their respective division standings.
"I think this group knows if they want to win, they've got to show up to play," Hodge said. "And we didn't do our job those nights and we came out with a loss.
"Of the wins we have, we've got about eight that could have gone either way in the last few minutes. Three were in overtime. We were just able to make a stop or make a play at the right moment. That's good character building, but we're cashing out our nine lives.
"We've had games where it's come down to the last few minutes and they realize it's time to step up and have been able to make something happen."
Another advantage Hodge has with this year's team is that 10 of the 13 have played either on a state championship basketball team or at least in the state tournament. An 11th member was a part of several high school softball state championship teams. They know what it takes to win consistently.
"No about it, that's one of the factors," Hodge said. "They've been through it prior to here.
"They've come from great coaching and that makes our job a lot easier. They don't get rattled in tight situations. That experience along with sophomores' experience is what's big for us.
Four of the Lady Warriors' last seven regular season games will be played on their homecourt.
"You want to win your home games," Hodge said. "We're 6-1, but you're only as good as your next one. We could easily wind up 8-6 if we don't take care of business.
"But with the four at home, the key is to protect your backyard. If you can do that and steal a few on the road, you've got a good opportunity."
This year's state tournament will be held at the home of the North Division women's champion. Northeast Mississippi currently leads that division and is ranked sixth in the NJCAA poll.