Future Lady Card Doing Well, Thanks
By Sonja Sykes
Junior center Quaneisha McCurty is still a couple of seasons away from joining the University of Louisville women’s basketball tam but that didn’t stop coach Jeff Walz from making a trip to see the 6-foot-6 post player in action Tuesday.
Quaneisha McCurty
No doubt he had to be pleased with what he saw, as her Northwest Whitfield (Ga.) team rolled over North Paulding 80-15 in a game that was halted because of the mercy rule in the fourth quarter.
McCurty, a member of U of L’s 2011 recruiting class, netted 18 points and grabbed six rebounds as Northwest (12-2) easily held on to their No. 4 ranking in the Class 4A coaches poll. “We shoot the ball extremely well and do a good job on defense,” says coach Margaret Stockberger.
McCurty leads the Lady Bruins in scoring, rebounds and blocks. She’s fast enough to join the guards in the transition game and, despite a slender frame, is a battler on the boards.
Louisville returns to action Saturday with a visit to No. 24 Georgetown.
(Thanks to Adam Krohn and Marty Kirkland at the Dalton, Ga., Daily Citizen for keeping ol’ Sonja in the loop.)
About the Author: Sonja Sykes is an avid fan of University of Louisville athletics, especially the women's basketball team.
Sonja, Thanks for the update. I am just learning womens BB and thanks to your posts I am making progress. Why did some players (who played on last years team) leave the team last summer?
Bob
We lost Mary Jackson, Janae Howard and Tiera Stephen for several reasons. I’ll explain briefly below.
Jackson returned to Memphis. She’s from there and saw the chance to get on the court more with the weaker Tigers after sitting out this year. They recruited her heavily. Jackson would have gathered a lot of bench time had she stayed here.
Howard is at WKU now. Pretty much the same scenario. Lack of playing time here, she’s from the Owsensboro area and saw the writing on the wall with her wing spot being crowded with better players. She has a decent outside shot, maybe it will come to life in the SunBelt in 2010-2011.
Stephen went to Wisconsin. Her transfer was likely because she saw herself no better than an off the bench point guard behind Byrd and LaToya Johnson. Of course, both of them are out now and Stephen could have possibly seen a lot of court time this year…we’ll never know. She also is sitting out this year.
Jeff Walz can be very demanding of freshmen to improve their skills and get acclimated to the college game. He’s really been on freshmen Asia Taylor and Rachel Story to catch up in their skill levels and contributions to match the rest of the team. I think they will eventually, Taylor still recovering from her injuries and Story gaining more confidence every time she hits the court.
Walz’s style is not for everyone. You get rewarded for what you do in practice and he demands your best every day. If he sees improvement in the areas a player is lacking in, they get the chance to demonstrate that improvement on game day. If not, they sit, observe and learn.
Also, an update on a couple of players who left the Lady Cards the 2007-08 season.
Kiara Evans is at Long Island and the sophomore point guard is burning up the Northeast Conference. Leads the conference in assists (6.8 a game) and steals (3.1) a game. Had 20 points and 11 boards inher last game against Lafayette. Sounds like she’s found a level of competition she can flourish at.
Jasmine Smith is at Tennessee State where she is second on the team in scoring (7.9) and rebounding (6.8). She recently dropped 20 points on Georgia in a loss and has lead TSU in scoring three times this season.
Maybe I just should have done a “where are they now” article and combined this and the previous reply.