Healthy Freuen Finally Gets In Mix For Cardinal

Finally, the only aches Regan Freuen suffers from are growing pains on the basketball court.

After three years of battling injuries, the Mead High School graduate is getting more chances to play for Stanford.

Just last week against Southern California, the 6-foot forward/guard came off the bench to score 10 points in 8 minutes on 1-of-2 shooting and 7 of 8 from the freethrow line.

Freuen, a redshirt junior, missed all of last season with a femoral stress fracture in her right hip.

As a sophomore, she played through a bulging disc and ankle injury. During that summer, she underwent surgery to alleviate cramping calves.

But now, as the No. 13 Cardinal (8-5, 5-1) looks toward Thursday’s game against Washington State (8-6, 2-3) at Maples Pavilion, Freuen said she’s as healthy as she’s been since high school.

“Basically, I’ve been in and out of injuries,” she said. “I never really had a chance to get in good shape.

“Because I redshirted last year, all I had time to do was to get completely healthy.”

Freuen comes off the bench as a small forward or shooting guard. She started in two games and is averaging 3.9 points on 47 percent shooting in about 8 minutes of play.

“The main part of playing at this level is confidence. I hadn’t played in a year and prior to that, my time was experience time. I wasn’t really in games at the heat of the moment,” she said.

Family matter

Idaho coach Julie Holt said she’s focusing her energy on this season, although many of her supporters seem more interested in the coach’s future in Moscow.

Since husband Nick accepted the University of Louisville defensive line football coaching position in December, Holt said everywhere she goes people ask her what she’s going to do.

“Obviously, we’re a family and we want our family to stay together,” said the fourth-year Vandals coach and mother of two young sons.

“Nick and I have know it was going to come to this at some point. Every year there’s been job offers and all kinds of things. I think most people can’t believe we don’t talk about it, because why talk about if, if, if?”

As far as recruiting, Holt said the Vandals are set for 1998-99. Five athletes have signed letters of intent, including 5-foot-9 Central Valley star Rikki Jackson.

A Redd alert

Looks like Washington’s Jamie Redd, the Pac-10’s second leading scoring (20.9 points per game), is still in coach June Daugherty’s doghouse.

After Redd refused to hustle and chase down a loose ball in a loss to Oregon, Daugherty responded by holding her out of the lineup against Oregon State.

She responded with 17 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench to help the Huskies snap a three-game skid after starting the year 10-0. However, Redd still is not listed as a probable starter for Thursday’s game at California.

3-pointers

Whitworth’s backcourt of sophomore guards Emily Stuenkel (University) and Rebecca Moore (Curlew) both are doubtful for this weekend’s games. Stuenkel, averaging 5.5 assists and two steals per game, has severe shin splints or a stress fracture. Moore hurt her non-shooting left shoulder Saturday against Lewis & Clark College. … Western Washington reserve point guard Linsay Porter (East Valley) tied a school record for most 3-pointers without a miss by hitting all four she took against Whitman. … Middlebury (Vt.) College junior Chrissy Peterson (St. George’s) had 18 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Springfield (Mass.). The NCAA Division III Panthers are ranked second in the New England poll. … Notre Dame senior Kari Hutchinson (St. George’s) is playing 13.9 minutes per game and averaging 3.0 ppg. The Irish, a Final Four team last year, are 11-5, 5-3 Big East.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: AREA LEADERS

Scoring Player, school FG-FGA FT-FTA 3pt Avg. Shelley Massingale, CCS 102-245 76-104 9 16.1 Alli Nieman, UI 87-192 73-100 5 15.8 Andrea Sherer, Whit 76-149 30-66 0 15.2 Tammy Goyne, NIC 73-160 28-46 19 13.8 Kelli Johnson, UI 82-197 27-31 36 13.4 Alana Carlander, CCS 90-225 39-63 35 13.4 Yvonne Kunze, WSU 77-135 30-50 0 13.1 Sandy Gere, GU 65-155 32-40 22 12.3 Susan Woolf, UI 61-179 51-73 32 12.1 Becky Huddle, NIC 49-121 53-64 5 12.0 Lydia Ledgerwood, GU 63-160 50-67 7 11.4 Alke Dietel, WSU 67-142 15-25 11 11.4 Erin Dowhy, NIC 68-140 22-44 0 11.3 Kelli Pilkington, CCS 89-210 34-56 3 11.3 Tracy Ford, EWU 60-179 25-30 23 11.2

Rebounding Stephanie Shelton, CCS, 8.6 (163); Juli Carlson, EWU, 8.2 (123); Sherer, Whit., 7.5 (90); (92); Nieman, UI, 6.8 (108); Kunze, WSU, 6.6 (92).

Assists Emily Stuenkel, Whit., 5.5 (66); Shelton, CCS, 4.8 (48); Goyne, NIC, 4.3 (60); Woolf, UI, 4.2 (71); Kathyrn Gussett, UI, 4.1 (70).

Steals Goyne, NIC, 4.6 (64); Lisa Bocook, CCS, 4.1 (48); Gere, GU, 2.3 (35); Stuenkel, Whit., 2.0 (24); Carlander, CCS, 2.0 (38).Pilkington, CCS, 1.9 (37). Schedule Today: Eastern Washington at Weber State, 6 p.m.; Yakima Valley vs. CCS at SFCC, 6 p.m. Thursday: Colorado Northwestern at NIC, 5:30 p.m.; Idaho at Boise State, 6; Saint Mary’s at Gonzaga, 7; WSU at Stanford, 7:30. Friday: Seattle U. at Whitworth, 6 p.m. Saturday: WSU at Cal, 2 p.m.; Eastern Utah at NIC, 5:30; Puget Sound at Whitworth, 6; CCS at Walla Walla, 6; San Diego at Gonzaga, 7. Sunday: Eastern at Portland State, noon. Monday: Nevada at Idaho, 7 p.m. Tuesday: Walla Walla at NIC, 5:30 p.m.; Whitworth at Whitman, 6; Idaho at Eastern Washington, 7.