ETHRIDGE PICKED OUT TO HEAD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PROGRAM

by Ken Dunkin

Taking over a traditionally losing program would scare most coaches. For new Riverwomen basketball head coach Shelly Ethridge, it is nothing new. Ethridge was named the new head coach in July, taking over for Jim Coen who was let go after the winter season.

She will have many tough battles ahead of her. The team finished a dismal 5-22 overall and a wretched 2-18 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference last season. With eight players returning from that squad, along with 12 others joining camp, the future looks at least a little bright.

"It's going to be difficult in the beginning," Ethridge said. "But I want it to be as smooth an adjustment as possible. Most of the players should be comfortable in pre-season practice and at most by the first four or five games."

If anyone would know about how to rebuild the program, it would be Ethridge. When she was coach at Belleville Area College, she posted a 109-44 record. Her teams average 22 wins a season. Last year, the team was 24-9. She was also named conference coach of the year - twice. She got this success from a team that hadn't won more than 10 games a season in more than 10 years, a team she turned into one of the best in junior college.

"It is almost a case of de ja vu," Ethridge said. "It won't be long before we have a winning program at UM-St. Louis."

And what if the team does struggle and have its regular losing season?

"I've never had a losing season. If that happens, it won't be taken lightly," Ethridge said.