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Making a run that’s sure to even the score - Paul Sokoloski Opinion

Sunday January 04, 2009 | 10:41 AM

Paul Sokoloski psokoloski@timesleader.com

They’ve trained themselves to never look up at the scoreboard.

And really, why would the players on the Wilkes University women’s basketball team want to?

They are playing for a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 1994-95, when the Lady Colonels went 13-11 under Karen Haag.

That was 14 seasons and two head coaches ago.

Since then, Wilkes has rarely even approached a .500 season, save for that 12-13 record under Haag’s replacement, Jim Reed, in 2002-03. The Lady Colonels went 2-23 last season after an exasperating array of injuries.

It is why fourth-year Wilkes coach Rachel Emmerthal chooses to measure the program’s progess in terms of effort, instead of victories.

“We’re working to do the best we can do, to be the best we can possibly be,” Emmerthal said. “We ask everyone to give it their all, 110 percent, all the time.”

By now, Wilkes sophomore guard Allison Horn figured such all-out effort would pay off in the win column.

“It’s frustrating,” said sophomore Horn, a slick and smooth point guard who drove her Northwestern Lehigh High School team to District 11 championship success. “Coming in, we were 5-3, which is a good record. I’m used to going 8-0. It takes time to build a program.”

Maybe that wasn’t evident by the final score Saturday, when DeSales brought its No. 15 national ranking into the Marts Center and waxed Wilkes 69-39.

But the Lady Colonels played hard, showed plenty of spirit, and their aggressive inside defense made it difficult for DeSales to score – at least initially. Wilkes pranced right through the vaunted all-out press DeSales is known for. And Horn, back from two knee surgeries, whipped pinpoint passes like a magician. The Lady Colonels just couldn’t score.

“There were a lot of good things,” Emmerthal said. “At the end, we couldn’t finish. What matters most is what the scoreboard says at the end.”

Not always.

Hustle and heart count for something, too, and the Lady Colonels filled the gym with those inspiring traits. Trailing by 32 points late in the game, Wilkes sophomore guard Brittany Ely launched herself into a head-first dive across the floor to save a loose ball. That came moments after Horn flung herself like a rag through two DeSales defenders, flopping on a ball as if it were a fumble.

“We always talk about playing buzzer to buzzer,” Emmerthal said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, what the score is, what the time is on the clock. You’re giving your all until that buzzer rings. That’s why you see them diving around like that.”

Or just maybe, the Lady Colonels are after a lot more than loose balls.

They’re 5-4 overall and two wins away from the best record the school has had in five seasons.

“I already consider us having major success this season, compared to last year,” Ely said. “Our program hasn’t been good for awhile now. We’re getting a start in the right direction. We’re getting wins. We know that feeling now.

“We want to experience it more.”

Don’t bet against that happening this season. The Lady Colonels have had enough of playing the part of patsies. Now they’re playing to win.