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January 30, 2005Westover bounces back for CMUByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - When it came time to head to Central Michigan University to play basketball, Dana Westover brought two things: her own mouthpiece and a recent knee injury. The latter prevented the former Glen Lake standout from using the former in the fall of 2003. Now the 6-foot-2 red-shirt freshman forward has banged her way into the starting lineup for the Chippewas. Westover, a 2003 graduate of Glen Lake, was a little shocked to learn she had earned a spot among the top five after sitting out the 2003-04 season. But the time away from the game made her want to return even more. "I think I was surprised," said Westover, who is averaging 6.9 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds a game for the Chippewas (8-10). "Coach told us that two or three post players would play a lot and we have seven on the team. "If I worked hard, I could be one of those, or so I figured. So I just pushed myself in practice and then (in preseason) in October. "All I wanted to do was play. I didn't want to sit on the bench anymore." Westover has done little sitting. She's started all 17 games for Central Michigan and is third on the team in minutes per game. Westover was able to get a starting spot and plenty of court time because of the work she put in over the summer recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and partially torn meniscus in her knee. "I did a lot of rehab when I got here," Westover said. "The trainers helped me out a lot. When I came home, I knew what I had to do this summer to get back. "So I just worked really hard." When practice for the current season began, Westover was ready to mix it up. "I think Dana came to CMU ready to play physical," said fourth-year Central coach Eileen Kleinfelter. "She was the only player that came to practice this year with her own mouth piece. And it was the real thing, one of those nice fitted ones. "She knew she was going to be banging in there." Plus, Westover is accustomed to playing in the paint against more physical players. That was a part of her everyday routine having been a teammate of starting Michigan State University power forward Liz Shimek. "I always had to guard her in four years of basketball," said Westover, who still works out with Shimek in the offseason. "I got my share of elbows, but she definitely made me a stronger player. She's definitely a role model for me." Besides, even if Westover can't physically match up with a foe - like Marshall's 6-5 Michele Hagan - she has other ways to get a rebound or to be in the right place defensively. "She uses her athleticism and speed to get into the right position," Kleinfelter said. "That has so much to do with it. That and her jumping ability. "She misses the contact sometimes. She also needs to time her jump a little better. She likes to jump out of the gym before the ball even comes off the rim. Then she's coming down as the ball is going up instead of going up when the ball is coming down. "She's also one of our better defensive players. And that's not an easy thing to do. It's very physical." Kleinfelter said Westover's athletic ability was one of the first things that caught her attention early in the recruiting process. In addition to being all-state in basketball, Westover earned that honor in track. She won a Division 4 state title in the 100 hurdles as a senior in 2003 and was three-hundredths of a second out of first as a junior. "In addition to her basketball skills, it was her athleticism - a girl her size that can run the floor as well as she can," Kleinfelter said. "That was evidenced by her accomplishments in track in high school." Westover's track background also impressed the CMU coaching staff at the start of practice this fall. Central Michigan begins its workouts with a timed 1½-mile run with certain standards for guards, forwards and centers. Kleinfelter said the time for forwards to make is 10:45, which is lowered to 10:30 for more athletic players, like Westover. "She ran a 10:16," Kleinfelter said. "And she fell over the finish line to make it happen." So when it came time for Westover to overcome adversity, she was ready for that hurdle - even though it came at an inopportune time. Just a few days before the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan all-star game in the summer of 2003, Westover was playing a pickup basketball game at Glen Lake. On one of the first plays of the scrimmage, Westover went up for a rebound. She bumped into another player in the air and was then accidentally undercut. Not the way one wants to begin their Division I basketball career. "Not really," Westover said. "I was really looking forward to playing basketball. I just felt I was ready after winning a state title in track, then a major block in the road, one that I couldn't do anything about." Westover joined the Chippewas late last season for practice at the end of January. She was medically cleared to play in early February. "We could have played her, but we opted to save her for this season," Kleinfelter said. "I'm very pleased with the way she's come back." Kleinfelter added that the time Westover spent watching the game last season has paid dividends. "Because of her academics on the court, she knows what she's doing out there," Kleinfelter said. "It also helped her last year when she was hurt because she could see it all and do it all." CMU wanted Westover back on the court after going 5-23 in 2003-04, including a 1-15 mark in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). "I had high expectations of her starting last year," Kleinfelter said. "We needed her size desperately. "The recruiting cupboard was bare prior to the two years we got here, no doubt about it." Central got off to a strong start in its non-conference campaign, posting a 6-5 record despite losses to Big Ten schools Indiana and Illinois. The Chippewas have been struggling in the MAC, a factor that points to the youth of the team, Kleinfelter said. CMU has just one senior, guard Lindy Hatfield, on its roster and five of its top nine players are freshman and sophomores. "We did well in non-conference," Kleinfelter said. "I saw a lot of young players, like Dana, constantly trying to improve. I'm extremely pleased with Dana's continued progress. In September, you don't know who's going to start and who's going to contribute and looking at Dana's stats in the conference, she's contributing." Westover is nearly averaging a double-double in league games with 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds. And the Glen Lake grad says she's still coming on as a scorer. Kleinfelter said she has visions of Westover draining 3-pointers as a post player spotting up behind the arc as the trailer on the fast break. Westover has yet to attempt a triple try this season. "The biggest thing right now is my shooting," Westover said. "My outside shooting needs to improve. Since I hurt myself, my form kind of changed a lot. "I need to get back to the way it was before that. My experience needs to improve and my refined skills." "Experience is going to make her better," Kleinfelter interjected. "As she gets experience, her skills will get more refined." Kleinfelter added the Chippewas "can see the light at the end of the tunnel" after 11 straight losing seasons. "I think it's going in the right direction," Westover said. Kleinfelter said the direction the Chippewas are headed can include Westover in a big way. "I think her future is very bright," Kleinfelter said.
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