Plus: Collins adds size and depth to a shallow Marquette front-court. She figures to contribute off the bench in defensive situations. Can step outside and shoot when necessary.,”Jasmine Collins – No. 00 – F – 6-foot-2 – Fr. – Detroit, Mich. – Martin Luther King
Plus: Collins adds size and depth to a shallow Marquette frontcourt. She figures to contribute off the bench in defensive situations, and she can step outside and shoot when necessary.
Minus: Collins was not the dominant offensive force that a player her size should have been in high school.
Krystal Ellis – No. 20 – G – 5-foot-9 – Jr. – Racine, Wis. – St. Catherine's
Plus: Ellis returns as the team's only proven scorer. She led the squad last season in points per game (18.0), assists (3.5) and steals (2.2). She was second in free-throw percentage with a staggering (87.2), getting to the line an average of 5.2 times per game. Ellis was also second in three-point percentage (35.5).
Minus: Ellis is not a pure point guard and did not excel at every aspect of the position last year. While she did lead the team in assists per game (3.5), her ratio of assists per 40 minutes (4.35) was well below where a star point guard's should be.
Paige Fiedorowicz – F – 6-foot-0 – Fr. – Johnsburg, Ill. – Johnsburg
Plus: Fiedorowicz is an exceptional three-sport athlete who averaged 18 points and 10.5 rebounds her senior season despite lacking some height for her position. She has a proven knack for snatching boards as well as substantial scoring ability in high school.
Minus: Fiedorowicz's athleticism and strength allowed her to get away with being a few inches too short for the physical style of post play she has taken to. Playing in the Big East might be a different story.
Janelle Harris – G – 6-foot-0 – So. – Detroit, Mich. – Renaissance
Plus: Harris is a strong, interior-oriented player who can play three positions on the court. In limited playing time, she has shown some post ability and is a strong finisher around the rim. Harris also has shown the potential to crash the boards.
Minus: She struggled to find her shot as a freshman, shooting just 35.8 percent from the field. It will become increasingly difficult for her get to the rim when defenders do not respect her outside shot. Harris made an abysmal 65.5 percent of her free throws, which doesn't bode well since her style of play will get her to the line often.
Svetlana Kovalenko – F – 6-foot-3 – Sr. – St. Petersburg, Russia – Houghton (Mich.)
Plus: Kovalenko is looking to shine in a starting role with the departure of last year's four senior forwards. She has shown decent ball skills and could find playing time at several different positions.
Minus: During Kovalenko's sophomore campaign, she averaged 19.5 minutes, 6.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 44.5 percent from the field and a respectable 44.2 percent from behind the arc. Last year she regressed, shooting just 39.2 percent from the field and 13.6 percent on three-pointers.
Kelly Lam – C – 6-foot-3 – Jr. – Brookfield, Wis. – Brookfield East/Oklahoma
Plus: Lam played only 13.1 minutes per contest last season after sitting out the 2005-2006 season due to NCAA transfer regulations. During the limited playing time Lam saw, she was able to average 4.4 points per game while also finishing second on the team in blocked shots with 22. Only the now-graduated Jasmine McCullough had more (25), but McCullough also averaged almost eight more minutes per game. At 51.5 percent, Lam also had the highest field goal percentage on the team.
Minus: Lam does have a tendency to get herself into foul trouble. Only Quaye, Ellis and Kovalenko had more personal fouls last season, and Quaye and Ellis saw well over double the minutes that Lam did.
Tatiyiana McMorris – G – 5-foot-7 – Fr. – Bronx, N.Y. – John F. Kennedy
Plus: McMorris will add much-needed depth at the point guard position with Ellis expected to move over to shooting guard much of the time. She averaged 17 points and 6 assists per game her senior year. She displayed excellent range in high school as well.
Minus: Despite McMorris's quick first step and ball-handling skills, she is hesitant to take the ball inside.
Jocelyn Mellen – F – 6-foot-3 – Redshirt Fr. – Dixon, Ill. – Newman Central Catholic
Plus: Mellen averaged 18.2 points and 12.4 rebounds per game for her entire high school career. She has shown tremendous shot blocking ability as well as finesse around the rim. Mellen is another player who could see playing time at several positions. Despite her height, she is more than an adequate ball-handler, allowing her to rotate to the perimeter on occasion.
Minus: Mellen sat out the 2006-2007 season with a knee injury and is now a redshirt freshman. It still remains to be seen how the injury will fare with more playing time. While Mellen could tend to be more of a perimeter-oriented player, the team may need her to embrace more of a post role with the lack of depth at the forward and center positions.
Erin Monfre – G – 5-foot-11 – Jr. – Waukesha, Wis. – Waukesha South
Plus: Monfre came to Marquette widely regarded as an elite three-point sharpshooter. When Monfre's shot is on she is hard to stop, as witnessed by last year's game at Virginia where she went 6-for-7 from three-point range.
Minus: The obvious is Monfre's atrocious 26.9 field goal percentage, which was nearly 10 percent worse than anyone else on the team. She was actually more accurate from behind the arc hitting 27.7 percent. Not so obvious is her lack of defensive production. Monfre averaged only 0.63 steals per contest.
Angel Robinson – G – 5-foot-8 – Fr. – St. Paul, Minn. – St. Paul Central
Plus: Robinson looks to make an immediate impact at the point guard position left vacant by the shift of Ellis to shooting guard. During Robinson's senior year, she averaged 16.3 points, 5.3 assists and a whopping 4.9 steals per game. She was named 2007 Minnesota Miss Basketball.
Minus: She is stepping immediately into a leadership role that is required to play the point and will be asked to log some serious minutes. This might prove overwhelming for a freshman.
Marissa Thrower – F – 5-foot-11 – Jr. – Detroit, Mich. – Renaissance
Plus: Thrower began the 2006-2007 season coming off of the bench but ended up earning six starts near the end of the season. She proved to be a valuable three-point shooter hitting a team-high 48 percent. She also proved to be a quality rebounder from the small forward position. Thrower is an excellent free throw shooter, sinking 87.5 percent from the charity stripe.
Minus: Thrower, like Lam, is also somewhat of a hack. She racked up 63 fouls while averaging only 15.0 minutes per game.
Courtney Weibel – G – 5-foot-8 – Fr. – Rockton, Ill. – Hononegah
Plus: She has range. Weibel is the nation's all-time high school three-point record holder. She averaged 14.5 points per game her senior year. She will provide much needed depth at the wing if Monfre continues to struggle. Her lightning-quick release will make up for her short stature and low release point. She is also a good free-throw shooter, making 93.3 percent her senior season.
Minus: While Weibel lives by the three, she only hit 38 percent from three-point range her senior season. This number will have to rise if she intends to see consistent playing time.
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