By Ryan Ernst
The Cincinnati Enquirer

At the beginning of the basketball season, no one thought too highly of the Mount St. Joseph women's basketball program.

The Lions never had recorded a winning season and were 35-66 in the program's four-year history. Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference coaches picked the team to finish sixth in the eight-team league.

Coaches thought even less of the Mount's men's team. The Lions, who lost seven seniors from last season's 9-17 team, were eighth in the preseason poll.

But a funny thing happened on the way to a rebuilding year.

The women's team (8-4, 3-1 HCAC) has blended a pair of transfers with a deep and experienced group of returnees to roll over the top two preseason picks. First, it beat preseason No. 2 Franklin 75-58. Three days later, the Lions beat conference favorite Anderson 73-57 on the road.

Think that helped a perennial middle-of-the-pack team take on the attitude of a conference front-runner?

"Big time," coach Melissia Patterson said. "We've had the chance to play some good teams and learn some things about ourselves. Now we've got some good wins under our belt, and confidence is really spreading."

The men (8-4, 3-1) are weathering a storm of inexperience with halfcourt defense and a work ethic coach Larry Cox said had been missing from the program.

The Lions prepared for this season's conference play by loading their schedule. They held last year's Division III national champion, Otterbein, to 39 percent shooting from the field in a nine-point loss; fell 87-68 at Division I Eastern Kentucky; and dropped a 63-59 contest to No. 23 Capital.

Cox doesn't like the losses, but the preparation is paying dividends.

"Our defense is starting to round into shape and we've put in a new offense that's starting to come around," he said. "We still need to improve on rebounding and free throw shooting, because when you play good teams, that's what you have to do."

The women's team also has a tough schedule. Two of the team's losses came at the hands of No. 6 Hope College and No. 19 Wilmington. And, apparently, playing a tough schedule has kept the Lions on the minds of Division III voters. The team is creeping up on the Top 25, earning five votes in the latest poll.

In fact, the quick start has the Lions thinking about something well out of their reach in years past - the NCAA Tournament.

"We are taking things one game at a time, but that's definitely in the back of our minds," Patterson said. "We've always been in the middle to the back of the pack in our conference, so it would be nice to (win the regular-season title and) host the tournament. But those are long-term goals."

Long-term goals are something Cox and the men's team know all about. With six freshmen and no seniors on the roster, this year was supposed to be a learning experience.

"We've had a lot of guys who haven't played a lot of varsity, so from a coaching standpoint, it's been a lot of fun," he said. "This group is eager to listen."

At the top of that list is Tom Luther. The junior forward from Moeller is having a breakout year, leading the team in scoring while recording seven double-doubles.

The women's team also boasts a standout player. Junior Tasha Reid, a Hughes graduate and transfer from Arkansas State, has sparked the Lions' offense with 19 points a game.

"She's really fit in well and has had a major impact," Patterson said. "She's a scorer and she's extremely athletic. She's really helped make the game easier for everyone, because she draws so much attention. She makes us so much more effective offensively, but we still haven't had that breakout game yet."

Others

St. Xavier grad Steve Sollmann, a junior second baseman at Notre Dame, has been selected a second-team preseason All-American and the Big East Preseason Player of the Year.

Amy Mobley, a Harrison alum, scored 24 points in Northern Kentucky's 96-64 victory over Wayne State on Monday, becoming the 19th player in the program's history to tally 1,000 career points.

Tasha Reid, a junior forward at Mount St. Joseph and a graduate of Hughes High, was named to the all-tournament team at the Otterbein "O" Club Classic last week.

E-mail rernst@enquirer.com