MU women's basketball to display 2 extremes

HUNTINGTON -- As the Marshall women's basketball team gets its season under way, there will be two extremes that fans will notice.

First off is the familiar side of life for the Thundering Herd. There will be four starters returning that Marshall coach Royce Chadwick said the Herd's success will hinge on.

"The mainstays are going to be the mainstays," Chadwick said. "We will be leaning on them heavily to carry our basketball team."

Chantelle Handy and Alyssa Hammond are a pair of redshirt juniors that are heading into their fourth year with the Herd program.

Not only do they know what Chadwick expects from the team as a whole, but they also are versatile enough to be able to run at several different positions on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court.

Both Handy and Hammond have played as wings and each has even seen time as the center for the Herd during their time with the team. The expanded knowledge adds to their leadership abilities on the court.

In addition to those players, post player Tynikki Crook and point guard Casey Baker are also going to be pivotal for the team.

Last season at this time, Crook and Baker both were going through their first preseason with the team, and they took their lumps in the early going as they learned the schemes of Division I basketball.

However, by the end of the season, they were the two main cogs in Marshall's run to the Conference USA semifinals.

While Marshall has a wealth of experience in the starting lineup, the bench will be very inexperienced in the season's first few games.

Newcomers in the frontcourt include Kamille Lisonbee, who is still recovering from an ankle injury suffered during preseason drills, Andrea Ibezim and Keona Brooks.

Chadwick said those players have a chance to make an immediate impact with the team, along with guards Tonia Walters and Rashedah Henriques, who were practicing with Marshall in the second semester last year.

Other backcourt newcomers include Raechele Gray and Alaya Mitchell. Chadwick said their impact will be more gradual because they will have to not only learn their position, but also how to get the rest of the team in position to run the offense effectively.

"Being a point guard is the hardest transition there is, so it will take some time for them to get acclimated," Chadwick said.

One thing that will help the team is having eight of its first 10 games at home. That means the new players can get used to playing NCAA Division I basketball in an environment that they are used to while also having more time in the gym.

"It's always easier to do things when you are at home," Chadwick said. "We will have some extra practice days that we didn't last year because they were used up as travel days. It's easier to get in the gym and it's even easier to get treatment as opposed to being on the road all the time."

Chadwick thinks that all the elements -- the veterans, the newcomers and the schedule -- could make for another successful season for the Herd in Conference USA.

"We are very excited about where we are. We have an awful lot of newcomers that need a lot of work and we are working with them daily to get them ready," Chadwick said. "How good we'll be (on Nov. 14), I don't know. Right now, we are polishing off our preseason and getting ready for an exciting year."

Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Coach Royce Chadwick talks with fans and supporters as Marshall women's basketball hosts "Marshall Basketball is Sweet" on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008, at the Cam Henderson Center.