It all happened so fast for the Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team — from 6-19 two years ago to 19-7 last winter to who-knows-where now. But somewhere good, coach Ashlee Courter believes; even the memory of a disheartening playoff loss to end the 2007-08 season has been turned inside-out, transformed into a positive, she said.

And it all lasted so long for the F&M men's squad. Year after year the Dips churned out 20-victory finishes, as if from an assembly line. Year after year they won conference championships, made NCAA runs. That's ancient history now, though; last year they lost eight of their last 10 games to wind up 12-13, their second straight losing season (on the heels of a 13-12 campaign in '05-06). Veteran coach Glenn Robinson believes his club has turned a corner, but it is still really, really young, still playing in a Centennial Conference that promises to be very tough.

So that's where F&M hoops stands, with a new season on the horizon — one team on the rise, the other on the rebound. One team looking to ride a wave, the other fighting the current.

Last year's rapid reversal on the part of the women's squad happened more quickly than even Courter might have envisioned. But now, the third-year coach said, "Things are just falling into place."

There were times her first year when she only had six available bodies for games; now she hopes to rotate nine players — the best of those senior guard Sarah Meisenberg (18.7 ppg last year) — and play a pressing, up-tempo style. And it's safe to say that that season-ending loss to Gettysburg in last year's Centennial semifinals (in Mayser Gym, no less) remains in the back of everybody's minds.

"It was a little disappointing," Courter said. "Definitely, I think we'll use that as motivation. We realize we're going to have to work for everything we get this year. Nobody is going to hand it to us."

Robinson, who begins his 38th season with 730 career victories (most in NCAA Division III history), is hoping to guide his team back to the postseason, a place it hasn't been since 2005, when it won an ECAC South championship. Its last NCAA appearance came a year earlier.

"It's definitely an oddball situation," he said, "not being in the rankings and not racing either to the paper or the Internet on Tuesday morning to find out how far we've moved up the list. It definitely seems extremely odd at the end of February not to be getting ready for a big NCAA game.

"Twenty-two years out of 25 we were getting ready for stuff like that. You definitely do get accustomed to that."

He believes that many factors contributed to the Dips' slide at the end of last year, not the least of which was the CC's top-to-bottom strength; Ursinus reached the Final Four, while Gettysburg advanced to the Sweet 16.

But he also believes his team will be better for the experience.

"Last year was a step in the right direction," he said. "We started as many as four freshmen, and had three starting almost the entire year. Even the substitutes were new players to the program. In that regard we retooled, talent-wise. We lost a number of really close games. With a year's experience, we'll come out on top."

F&M will start three sophomores — James McNally (13.3) and Mike Baker (8.7) in the post, and Anthony Brooks (5.4) on the wing — along with junior wing Clay Scovill (9.2), from Manheim Township, and freshman point guard Georgio Milligan.

"Right now we're definitely better than we were last year," Robinson said.

Not to mention healthier, seeing as Scovill and Baker were dogged by ankle injuries in '07-08.

But as the coach also said, "It all has to be proven under fire."

While Courter did not wish to reveal her starters at present, she did say that Meisenberg — a two-time All-American and CC Player of the Year — was joined by center Cara Landolfi (9.6) and forward Miriam Marcis (4.6) in the lineup for a scrimmage against Stevenson. Freshman wing Megan Pauley and junior point guard Sara Wolman also started, though several others are in the picture, including Alison Bauer, a freshman point guard from Conestoga Valley, and senior guard Amanda Miceli, who was averaging 13.2 points a game before she tore an ACL 11 games into last season.

"We didn't expect it to happen so quickly [last year], but it did," Courter said. "Now we've got to show everybody we deserve to stay up there. We've got to show some consistency."

In other words, they are going to try to ride that wave. Which is never as easy as it sounds.


Diplomats open with tournaments
Franklin & Marshall's basketball teams will tip off the season with tournaments at Mayser Center next weekend.

The men's team will host the Rotary Tip-Off Tournament Friday and Saturday.

In Friday's tournament opener, Arcadia will play Mary Washington at 6 p.m. F&M will play Penn State-Harrisburg at 8 p.m.

The consolation will be at 6 p.m. Saturday, with the championship at 8 p.m.

The women's team will host the Terry Greene Tip Off Tournament Saturday and Sunday.

In Saturday's openers, Manhattanville will play Elizabethtown at 1 p.m. and F&M will face Shenandoah at 3 p.m.

The consolation is at 1 p.m. Sunday, with the championship at 3 p.m.