By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Washburn University women's basketball standout Lora Westling said she never really seriously thought about getting the chance to coach her alma mater as she climbed the coaching ranks.
But when longtime WU coach Ron McHenry announced his retirement following the 2021-2022 season, there was no doubt that Washburn was the place Westling wanted to be.
Lora Westling
"I was a little bit heartbroken. as I'm sure everyone was, when coach Mac decided to retire, but once that news kind of settled in, then of course I was interested,'' Westling said. "This is one of the best Division II jobs in the country,.so anybody who says they wouldn't be interested is lying to you.''
Westling played at Washburn from 2001 to 2005 and helped McHenry's Lady Blues win the school's first NCAA Division II national championship in 2005 before embarking on her coaching career.
Westling, who coached the past six seasons at Western Colorado, was tapped as McHenry's successor last spring and will get her official start on Saturday when the Ichabods begin practice for the upcoming season.
Westling said she is pleased with the progress the Ichabods, 14-16 last season, have made in the offseason.
"It's been great from the standpoint that the women in our program have been really receptive to all of the new and it's been a lot of new really quickly for them, not just technically on the floor but also culturally and just kind of getting adjusted to a whole new staff,'' Westling said.
"They've been tremendously receptive and I've been really proud of them for that. They've had great coachability and they're trying. I'm really fortunate to have two outstanding assistants (J'nae Squires-Horton and Will Marchino) here with me and we're all growing in the same direction. I'm really excited about the foundation that we're laying.''
The Ichabods graduated leading scorer Hunter Bentley, but return a solid nucleus of players who saw significant time a year ago.
Wabaunsee product Abby Oliver average 9.0 points and 4.6 rebounds for Washburn last season. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Former Wabaunsee standout Abby Oliver (5-foot-10 junior) averaged 9.0 points and 4.6 rebounds last season while Hanover product Macy Doebele (5-11 junior) averaged 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Mackenzie Gamble (5-7 junior) averaged 4.5 points last season and hit 29 3-pointers.
Westling said she is counting on several other players to step up their games in the upcoming campaign.
"A few of them have really put in some work and I think are going to surprise some people this year,'' Westling said. "They won't be well-kept secrets very long but Aubree Dewey's been doing an unbelievable job for us at point guard, just high motor, high coachability. I think she's going to do some great things this season.
"Emma Chapman's come along and been very receptive in the forward position and is bringing a lot to the program. Lauren Cassady and Macy Doebele have played a lot of minutes before and are a little more familiar with the battles and more consistency but they're just tough, tough competitors and doing a great job and we have a really talented group of freshmen, some that are going to make an impact right away so we're excited about that.''
Washburn will begin the Westling era with an exhibition game at Nebraska on Oct. 30 and will host the Washburn Crossover Classic at Lee Arena Nov. 11-12, with the Ichabods facing Southwestern Oklahoma State an Oklahoma Baptist in that event.
"We kind of want to ssee what these kids are made of,'' Westling said. "We're going to go through some adversity early and not just Nebraska and what a Big 10 game two weeks into practice brings you but also our first week of practice, going every day and kind of turning up the volume and the energy on some of these things we've been doing and the intensity and what that does to your body.
"We really want to see who's going to be in this for the day-in, day-out routine of the season, who's our foxhole kids, who's up for the challenge, those things. We'll see what we're made of early and then continue to develop.''
