The Wings

Versatility will be the name of the game as the Cardinal has several players who will contribute both on the wing and on the inside.

The Cardinal’s wealth of options on the wings includes one of the best 3-point shooters in the country (junior Lauren St. Clair ), the team’s leading scorer two seasons ago (junior Lindsey Yamasaki ), a talented senior ( Sarah Dimson ), one of the team’s top contributors off the bench last season (junior Enjoli Izidor ) and two impressive freshmen who can immediately contribute ( Nicole Powell , Katie Denny ).

St. Clair , who was plagued by injuries during her freshman campaign, burst onto the scene last season with one of the most impressive 3-point shooting displays in program history. The Philadelphia native, who attempted just one 3-pointer in her entire high school career, led the Pac-10 and ranked ninth in the country in 3-point percentage by converting on .466 percent of her attempts. Even more impressively, St. Clair shot .531 (43-of-81) percent from long distance in Pac-10 games and .625 (25-of-40) percent against ranked opposition. Those numbers earned St. Clair , who averaged 9.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per outing, Honorable Mention All-Pac-10 honors. The junior underwent off-season shoulder surgery, but is ready for the 2000-01 season.

Yamasaki —a Pac-10 All-Freshman selection two years ago—gives the Cardinal another offensive threat who can score from anywhere on the floor. Yamasaki averaged a team-high 14.0 points per game in that freshman campaign, and also ranked among the conference leaders in rebounds with 5.9. Last season, the Oregon City, Oregon native joined the team following the conclusion of the volleyball season (late December), and averaged 6.7 points a game. Yamasaki , who is expected to be fully recovered from a stress fracture suffered in the off-season, elected not to play volleyball this fall.

"The key for Lindsey is getting completely healthy and being able to go full speed. A lot of the things we are looking to do (up-tempo style) are among of the things that she does really well. She has great size and versatility and can play inside or outside."

Dimson , a six-footer, is coming off a year in which she led the team in field goal percentage for the second consecutive season. She shot .555 (61-of-110) percent from the floor, and holds an even more impressive career mark of .560 (158-of-282) percent. Dimson played in all 30 games last season, including 18 starts, and averaged 5.1 points and 4.5 rebounds on the perimeter and in the post.

" Sarah is coming off a good junior year. She brings us an aggressive style, and I think what we want to do in terms of an up-tempo game is up Sarah’s alley. Playing a more aggressive, fast-paced game is better suited to Sarah . The important thing for us is being able to take advantage of both her size as a perimeter player and versatility as a post player."

In Izidor , VanDerveer has another player who caters to the up-tempo style that the Cardinal will feature this season. The 6-foot-0 junior averaged 4.2 points and 2.7 rebounds a year ago as she came off the bench in all 30 games. She also played a big role in the Cardinal’s near-miss upset of Tennessee when she played a career-high 37 minutes, and tallied seven points and five rebounds.

One of Powell’s main weapons is her versatility. VanDerveer will look for the freshman to do anything from handle the ball to be a factor in the paint. A prolific scorer (2,478 career points in high school), Powell also figures to give the Cardinal a big lift under the glass after grabbing over 15 rebounds per game as a senior. The consensus Prep All-American, who was ranked as one of the elite recruits in the country, averaged 8.2 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds for the gold-medal winning United States World Junior Championship Qualifying squad this summer.

"The best statistic I saw from the junior national team was that Nicole was their leading rebounder, because that is an area of need for our team. If she’s able to carry that over this season it will really help this team out. She also has good size (6-foot-2), and passes, shoots and sees the floor extremely well."

The 6-foot-1 Denny , who is from nearby Pacific Grove, is an explosive scorer who was one of the top high school players in Northern California the last few seasons. She set the Monterey County single game scoring record when she poured in 52 points last Jan. 15, and already ranks as one of the top female athletes in the history of that region.

" Katie is a talented player with a great work ethic. She is a very good outside shooter who can also post up or face up to the basket. We’re very excited to have Katie, and are looking forward to her having a great freshman year."

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