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Transfers making big impact for Metro
With three-game win streak, 'Runners off to good start after losing to No. 2 Fighting Sioux
By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Photo by Billy Schear • wschear@mscd.edu Metro’s Rae Bean scores Nov. 24 at the Auraria Event Center.

The women’s basketball team is off to a flying 3-1 start, including a 74-41 win against Midwestern State (2-2) Nov. 25 at the Auraria Event Center

The one loss was to the No. 2 team in the country, the University of North Dakota (7-1), 68-66.

The surprise of the season has been the new transfers into head coach Dave Murphy’s system, who have had an immediate effect for the team’s early success.

“It hasn’t been real easy,” Murphy said regarding the new blood. “They have had to use a lot of their experience and their maturity to find a way to fit in. They are solid young ladies, they’ve got good personalities, and they’ve made friends of their teammates, and I think that’s been a big help.”

New transfer guards Anne-Marie Torp and Ashley Mickens came up big for Metro in their latest win against Midwestern State. Torp scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Mickens added nine points, six assists and seven boards. Torp attributes her team’s early successes to her teammates, who push each other to get better, and to the solid play from transfer forward Cassondra Bratton, who scored 13 points against the Mustangs.

“I think as a team, we’ve just been working hard at practice,” Torp said. “We all just pressure each other to make each other work hard, and it shows up on the court. Bratton has been doing an awesome job. She is a strong girl, and it is nice to have her with us.”

Midwestern State was keeping pace with Metro in the first half with eight offensive rebounds, converting them into 14 second-chance points. Murphy was not happy with the defensive rebounding and made an adjustment at halftime.

“We had to do a better job of blocking out,” Murphy said. “So I said (at halftime), do you want to make this a short night or a long night? If we block out, we will be OK. And it looks like we did a better job in the second half of doing so.”

Metro out-rebounded the Mustangs 26-18 in the second half and 56-40 for the game. In fact, the Roadrunners are 3-0 when they out-rebound their opponents.

Having already played the No. 2 team in Division II, Metro’s schedule doesn’t get any easier. They face off against the No. 3 and No. 4 teams – St. Cloud State and Emporia State, respectively – on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2 in the Metro State/Regis Classic.

“We have the toughest schedule in Division II history,” Murphy said. “I am not sure that is going to get the rust off or get us into a groove or not. It certainly gives us the opportunity to know what we still need to work on for conference (play).”