Hoops season opens at Midnight

The long journey to the top of the Big West kicked off for both the men's and women's basketball teams Friday night during Midnight Madness, when more than 2,000 fans welcomed the teams at The Pyramid.

After last season's near misses, both teams have high expectations and will settle for nothing less than Big West championships and spots in the NCAA tourney.

"We're definitely looking forward to the season and our goal is the tournament," said senior guard Ramel "Rock" Lloyd.

"We won 22 games last year and we have four starters returning, but we still have a lot of work to do," said women's head coach Dallas Boychuk-Bolla.

The event, now in its third year, gave students and fans a peek at the new faces on the two teams, eight for the men and six for the women.

"I think we've got a pretty good crowd tonight," said Athletics Director Bill Shumard. "The first year we only opened one side, but now we've got a good student crowd along with our nucleus of boosters out to see our basketball teams."

The evening's events, which began with the introduction of both teams just after midnight, kicked into high gear with the women's three-point contest. In the first round, walk-on freshman Jennifer Johnson beat junior Crystal Givens and freshman Lauren Bull knocked off redshirt freshman Montoya Whitfield. Johnson pulled out the win in the final round, beating Bull five to two.

"We really enjoyed the event this year, it is definitely more exciting than last year," said Whitfield's mother Carolyn Anderson. "Both teams should do pretty good this year a go a little bit further. Maybe they'll go all the way."

A short scrimmage followed the shootout, but the action was sporadic since no one told the referees a running clock was being used and free throws were unnecessary.

The women's squad was without injured guards Tamara Inoue and Reta Sula so positional adjustments had to be made, but the team still gave the crowd a sample of their talent.

"We have some good chemistry and some good newcomers so we're really looking forward to the start of the season," said Inoue, who will be out until the end of the month after foot surgery.

Next, the men took center stage with the slam dunk competition. Showcasing their talent for the first time on their new home court, UCLA transfer Travis Reed and Mineral Area Junior College transfer Lemi Williams towered over their teammates in the contest's first round.

Reed twice dunked over a person, including a kneeling Prospector Pete, and Williams had a reverse and a tomahawk dunk to bring the crowd to its feet. Reed teased the crowd by walking off a Jordan-esque dunk from the free throw line before stopping short of the basket. The judges, four members of the women's team, decided Williams' third spectacular dunk of the evening was better than Reed's and declared him the winner.

"I didn't get to play last year after transferring, so I'm looking forward to getting out there," Reed said. "I've worked on my game and gotten bigger, stronger and faster. From the first day of school we've had our sights set on the Big West championship."

With the referees alerted to the adjusted rules, the men's scrimmage had a better flow, and the team's eagerness to start the season was evident in their aggressive play.

An Associated Students Inc. sponsored party at The Nugget preceded Midnight Madness at The Pyramid, and free food was provided at the event.

"I think it's great that they're giving us something positive to do at night," said Siandra Jones, a sophomore human services major. "I thought the entertainment was great, especially the DJ, and it was nice that they gave us free food."

Friday's event was just the first step in what both teams hope will be Big West championship wining seasons.

"With Coach Morgan leading us we have no doubt our goals are within our reach, we just have to go out and do it," said senior James Williams.