FRESH FACES GIVE RAMS HOPE FOR LIFE AFTER HOLLINGSWORTH
By Chris Kowalczyk
11-16-09

Dedication is one thing, but Beth Cunningham had to draw the line somewhere. As she headed to her pregame workout Monday afternoon, she got quite a shock.

“I walked into the weight room, said hello and did a double take. [Stephanie Solomon] is standing over there with dumbbells in her hands, and I about had a conniption… I virtually had to throw Solo out of the weight room.”

You’ll have to forgive Solomon (pictured, left). She played just 107 minutes last season while in the shadow of future WNBA Draft pick Quanitra Hollingsworth. But on Monday, Solomon was set to start the 2009-2010 season-opener for VCU, and she couldn’t help herself.

“I was just so excited,” Solomon said. “I had to put that energy somewhere.”

Luckily for the Rams, she saved enough energy for an 11-point, 10-rebound performance, her first career double-double, in a 72-58 VCU victory over Virginia Tech at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Solomon was just one of several lesser-known players to step up for the Rams Monday. Junior Ebony Patterson made her first career start and contributed 10 points, six assists and two steals. Sophomore Courtney Hurt, who averaged 4.4 points per game last season, led all scorers with 16 points and six boards.

With the graduations of Hollingsworth and Radoslava Bachvarova, who accounted for nearly 40 percent of VCU’s scoring last season, the emergence of Solomon, Patterson and Hurt was a comforting development.  

By the end of last season, Solomon, a junior college transfer, was buried so far on the end of the Rams’ bench that she didn’t appear in five of VCU’s last eight games. She averaged 0.7 points and 1.1 rebounds per game. On Monday, Solomon played 32 minutes and was the physical presence the Rams sorely need in the post this year to replace Hollingsworth’s 6-5 frame and nearly 10 rebounds per game.

“[Hollingsworth] left and this program has to continue to excel,” Solomon, who celebrated her 23rd birthday Monday, said.  “So I feel like since I have this position, I have to do my best. I have to give 100 percent, 200 percent, each and every night and keep this program moving forward and not standing still and not moving backwards.”

Patterson, it could be argued, spent nearly as much time in Cunningham’s doghouse as she did on the floor her first two seasons. However, the 5-7 guard returned this summer with a renewed sense of purpose.

“She’s been great this year…It’s really taken Ebony two years to understand what she needs to do on a daily basis to impact our program,” Cunningham said. “She told me this offseason that the light bulb when on, and that things were clicking and she didn’t want to go back to how it was her freshman and sophomore year.”

Patterson was critical down the stretch Monday, burying a pair of clutch jumpers to keep the Hokies at bay. She was also a source of enthusiasm for the Rams, as several VCU defensive stands ended with a Patterson banshee-like yell.

Hurt (pictured, right), who saw her playing time increase throughout the 2008-09 campaign, provided the Rams with a steady diet of turnaround jumpers, putbacks and baby hooks in the paint.  

With senior guard Kita Waller out for a couple more weeks following knee surgery, and La’Tavia Rorie in foul trouble on Monday, the Rams didn’t miss a beat. It’s an effort Rorie hopes to see early and often.

“For the other girls to step up tonight, it wasn’t really a big surprise to me, but that’s what’s going to have to happen every night if we’re going to win some basketball games.”

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