Kelley Bennett, who had a disappointing season after being named Big West freshman of the year, returns to the front line, as does reserve Melissa Gower, who played only 17 games this season. Beyond that, McDonald is looking for help, although he will get junior center Danielle Scott, an All-Big West tournament selection, from the volleyball team at midseason.
"If we don't get a good post player, then we will run more and be very, very aggressive on defense," McDonald said.
The bottom line, however, will be academics. As proof, McDonald points to his benching of Harriston for 16 minutes at the start of the Creighton game in part because she skipped classes. The move drew generally favorable responses from the administration, but might have cost the 49ers the game. Without Harriston in the starting lineup the 49ers were 4-4. Against Creighton, the team got behind early and never recovered.
But the benching was necessary, McDonald said, to get the message across that he intends to run the program his way.
