The Quad

Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Sports

These days there are plenty to do around West Chester University sports to keep busy. Baseball and softball are pretty big attractions to the student body. And the women's lacrosse team is doing their machine-like thing: beating the crap of almost everyone who stands in their way. No doubt about it, these are the rites of spring here at the university.

But if school stress is getting to you and you need a break from the area, head off campus to Citizens Bank Park. You get the luxury of watching Chase Utley and Pat Burrell lock and load and smack around just about anyone that stands in their way. You can watch Cole Hamels mow down everyone in his path.

Or head to the Wachovia Center and check out the Flyers, who continue to surprise teams and fans alike. Martin Biron, Mike Richards and company are giving their fans a rousing rendition of playoff hockey.

But if you want enjoy the biggest surprise in this area, the Flyers Wachovia Center partner, the Philadelphia 76ers, are playing playoff basketball. Love them or hate them, they are in the playoffs. For the first time in quite some time, basketball is being discussed in the region in late April. But the Sixers run to the playoffs is almost certainly more due to a weak conference than it is of a great team.

So if we wish to discuss basketball but want to avoid a potentially emotional let down by the Sixers, let us discuss a team that wins. Year in and year out, they are contenders. No salary cap. No $300 tickets to sit courtside. No player that won't participate in practice or sit out of fan appreciation night. Just winning basketball.

Lurking somewhere in the shadows of the powerful Golden Rams spring and fall sports teams is the West Chester University Lady Golden Rams basketball team. They aren't in season. They haven't even begun what could be labeled "official practices." They play pickup games together. They go for a run together. They sit around and just chill - together. But they are preparing for the season. On the court they hone their skills and keep in shape. Off the court they bond. Teammates have a break from one another. Families don't. And this team is a family, in the truest form of the word.

Even though next season is months away, lessons from this past season are certain to carry on to future years in the program, beginning immediately. The 2007-2008 squad has four departures: graduating seniors Catherine Andrews, Amanda Vitzakovitch, and Katie Kline, along with a non-graduate, Lindsay Weller. All four were important parts of the team and all will be missed. However, it took all 15 players who stepped foot on the court at one point or another during the season to help the team make a run to the PSAC final four.

Continued...

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