After battling nearly insurmountable odds in their first season together, second-year head coach Maria Fantanarosa and her Miami RedHawk women's basketball team have regrouped and reloaded for what could be a promising 1999-2000 season. According to Fantanarosa, with a solid combination of six seasoned veterans and six talented newcomers, all of the necessary components appear to be in place.

"I think a key for us as a staff and team is that we not only have a good balance of new and old, but we've also got a good mix of athleticism and inside/outside talent," Fantanarosa said. "We have all of the pieces, it's just a matter of how quickly we can put them together."

That's a big difference from last season's squad, which had just eight scholarship players and depended heavily on the services of four walk-ons. Despite its lack of depth and experience, Miami managed an 11-15 overall mark and 7-9 Mid-American Conference record, narrowly missing out on the league's final playoff spot.

According to Fantanarosa, despite the disappointment of not qualifying for the post season, the team and coaching staff were able to take a number of positives from the 1998-99 season.

"I really don't think many people expected us to win 11 games and be in as many games as we were last season," Fantanarosa said. "Out of 26 games, we were still in 22 of the games in the last three minutes. The positive is that we were giving ourselves a chance to win, and that was one of our early goals. As a team, we gained a lot of confidence in each other, and the game became fun again."