Last season going into the winter break, the Western Maryland women's basketball team was 5-2.
The team's 6-1 mark doesn't appear to be too different, but it is.
The Green Terror exchanged a 79-43 road loss last year to defending Centennial Conference champ Dickinson for a 71-64 win at home against the Red Devils on Dec. 6.
The win sets the tone for the second half of the season.
The Green Terror is alone atop the CC West Division at 3-0 with Franklin & Marshall not far behind at 4-1. The two teams will meet for the first time on Jan. 17 at the Gill Center.
Sophomore Sandi DeJager has been selected as the CC women's basketball Player of the Week for games of Dec. 6-11. She had 20 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot in the win over Dickinson and followed that with 19 points in a win against York.
The same kind of balance DeJager had against Dickinson is what the entire team has shown all season. Three starters -- DeJager, freshman Katie Haley and senior Denise Spangler -- are averaging double digits in scoring. Sophomores Erin Murphey (Francis Scott Key) and Heidi Snyder are not far behind at 8.7 and 8.6 per game, respectively.
The Green Terror has averaged 10 more rebounds a game than its opponents, with Spangler leading the way with 11 a game and Haley at nine.
Men's basketball
The Green Terror (4-4) closed out the 1994 portion of the schedule with a 108-78 loss at Gallaudet on Saturday -- the second time this month it has yielded 100 points.
Offense hasn't been a problem for the Green Terror, but limiting opponents has been. In going 2-2 in the CC, the Green Terror has averaged 82.5 points a game -- third-best in the conference -- while allowing a league-high 86 a game.
Freshman forward Will Marshall is the latest Green Terror to step up. After a team-high 16 points in a 71-66 win over St. Mary's last Thursday, he had his first career double-double (13 points, 10
rebounds) in the loss to Gallaudet.
Swimming
Junior Karen Alexander qualified for the NCAA Division III women's swimming championships for a third straight year in Western Maryland's 138-54 win at York on Saturday.
The Green Terror women (5-1) won three straight meets to close out 1994.
Alexander qualified for nationals in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2 minutes, 12.58 seconds. Double-winners for the Green Terror were seniors Alison Denlinger (50 and 100 freestyle) and Buffy Burke (200 and 500 free).
The men (3-2) won for the second straight time with a 130-71 victory over York. Freshman Mike Welter captured the 100 butterfly and 500 free, and five other Green Terror swimmers won individual events.