Newcomer Helps Spark EMU Women

By Mike Barber, Daily News-Record

Sophomore forward Carolyn Riley had a team-high 22 points as the Lady Royals defeated the Guilford College Quakers 78-66 Saturday afternoon. (Courtesy Wayne Gehman)

Carolyn Riley was a college dropout for a week. What a difference a week can make.

Riley, who left Marymount University after two days this semester, has led the Eastern Mennonite women’s basketball team to a surprising tie for third-place in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

Oh, and she’s never been happier.

"I was a college dropout for about a week," Riley, a 5-foot-11 small forward, said recently after practice at University Commons. "I really didn’t think I was going to go back to school this semester. Maybe next semester. It was scary but it was something you have to do for your own happiness."

Riley went back to Marymount – a Division III school like EMU – for all of two days. She had spent her summer break ruing her approaching return to the Arlington school while also fearing what life would be like if she left college, she said.

But after two days back on campus, Riley knew what she had to do.

Taking a Big Step

"I went back to Marymount and realized it just wasn’t going to work for another year," Riley, a Warrenton native, said. "It was something I had been dreading all summer. I just didn’t have enough courage to take that step."

Once she did, things quickly fell into place. A close friend – and student at EMU – told her the school started classes a week later than Marymount, meaning Riley still had time to enroll.

She sent off her paperwork and was on campus the day before the semester started.

"My dad said either this is going to be a huge mistake or it’s going to be the best thing that ever happened to you," Riley said with a smile. "And it’s definitely been the best thing that ever happened to me."

Riley was vague as to why she was so unhappy at Marymount – where she was the team’s second-leading scorer as a freshman – but far more verbose about why she’s so happy at EMU.

Riley averaged 9.7 points per game as a freshman for the 20-9 Saints, while playing in all 29 games and finishing second on the team in minutes. Playing time was clearly not a problem.

EMU 'a Fun Place to Be'

"I don’t want to badmouth Marymount," Riley said. "The atmosphere was just completely different. Everything here is about community. It’s just a fun place to be."

It’s been fun for her teammates and coaches, too.

A year after inheriting a pair of 1,000-point scorers for his rookie season, EMU coach Kevin Griffin was coming into this campaign with what most outsiders thought was a fairly bare cupboard. The Royals were picked to finish seventh in the ODAC and Griffin was hard-pressed to argue with that prognostication.

But it’s a funny thing about young teams facing low expectations and playing for a coach who preaches intensity and effort – sometimes they can sneak up on people.

"I don’t think we have as much talent as everybody else at times," Griffin said. "It’s an old cliché, but if you defend every night, you’ll be in games."

Just like their male counterparts at EMU, the 13-5 Royals try to generate a transition offense with an aggressive, high-energy defense, then slow down to a disciplined half-court attack if easy buckets don’t present themselves.

Teamwork

Griffin has found a way to blend seven new players – Riley and six freshmen – with his returners into a cohesive unit, one that seems to have a genuine love for playing his man-to-man defense.

His Royals also don’t seem too caught up in people saying they’re one of the year’s biggest surprises.

"I don’t think we’re surprised," junior center Jolene Kratz, the team’s second-leading scorer at 10.9 points per game, said. "I think we were picked so low because nobody knew what we had – the freshmen coming in and adding Carolyn. Before the season started, we knew that what they picked us as – I think seventh – wasn’t how it was going to be."

Griffin was, perhaps, a little less certain.

"I think I’m more surprised than they are," he admitted. "They, in some cases, are so young, they don’t even realize what’s going on. But their energy and passion for what they’re doing is paying off."

A year ago, when he had senior stars Amanda Renalds and Stephanie Matthews, he led the Royals to a fourth-place finish. Renalds and Matthews combined to score 654 of EMU’s 1,618 points last year.

Headed for a Title

Once again, Griffin has the Royals overachieving. They’re tied with Bridgewater for third at 11-3 in the ODAC.

Adding Riley, obviously, has been among the reasons for their progression.

She is averaging a team-best 16.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Not bad for a player who started the year wondering when she’d play ball again.

"I had never seen her play, never seen her dribble," Griffin said. "I didn’t know anything about Carolyn Riley. I wasn’t planning for a Carolyn Riley to show up. When she did, it was like, ‘Yeah, we’ll take you.’"

Now the question is, how far can she take them?

— article by: Mike Barber, Daily News-Record; posted February 6, 2007