Murrell finds winning home at Portland State
There are no hard feelings, certainly no gloating.
Sherri Murrell is at peace.
It’s a “bizarre” tale.
Murrell, who failed as the women’s basketball coach at Washington State and resigned last spring, stumbled into the job at Portland State (5-1) and led her team to a 5-0 start for the first time at the Division I level.
After five years at WSU and a 27-114 record, Murrell couldn’t take it any more and walked away.
The plan was to return home to Portland, buy a house, do some scouting and teaching, travel around to watch practices.
In short order she arranged her schedule, put an offer on a house and took a phone call from one of her former players at Pacific – where she had a 68-46 record before going to WSU – to tell her Portland State coach Charity Elliot had left to go to UC San Diego.
Minutes later, the PSU athletic director called.
“It’s just bizarre,” said Murrell, who started her career as a PSU assistant. “It came at a good time. A month earlier I wouldn’t have been ready.”
She was starting to get the itch.
“I didn’t want to take it out of convenience,” she said. “I did homework. I wanted to make sure it was right. I didn’t have to take it for any other reason.”
Now she is 30 minutes from her folks and she has a fresh perspective on her Cougars experience.
“Those close losses, I hung on them too long,” she said. “Bottom line, we just couldn’t recruit there. It’s on me. We couldn’t get top recruits you need to get (in the Pac-10).”
The Vikings have come from behind in three of their five wins, including Sunday against Gonzaga, with the help of two Spokane freshmen. Lexi Bishop (Shadle Park) is a starter and Kelli Valentine (Mead) is a key reserve.
“This is a good group of ladies,” Murrell said. “I don’t have to coach effort, it’s always there. Kelli is huge. She’s our secret weapon. Lexi is steady. I call her my little bulldog. Those two kids are a big part of our success.”
Murrell is also thankful.
“I called Charity and asked her about the job,” Murrell said. “Over the summer I said, ‘Thanks a lot. You did a great job recruiting kids.’ The cupboard was not empty.”
Neither is her tank.
Cougars lack players
When Alabama ended an 18-game losing streak by whipping Washington State in the Bahamas, the Cougars were at a distinct disadvantage.
June Daugherty’s team had just seven players. Heather Molzen, the only post presence, went down early with a sprained ankle. In the previous game Brynn Bemis suffered a concussion in her first game after finishing her senior season of soccer.
Murrell believes Daugherty, who was at Washington 11 years, can change the course at WSU because she of her proven track record of recruiting in the Pac-10.
The Cougars, who are home against Idaho tonight, signed seven players earlier this month.
Tip-ins
New Mexico junior Angela Hartill (Riverside) was named to the all-tournament team as the Lobos won their tournament to improve to 5-1. She had a career-high 12 points and seven boards in a first-day win over Nicholls State. … San Francisco sophomore Heidi Heintz (Central Valley) made the all-tournament team at the Dons’ tourney although her team lost to Villanova in the final. Heintz had 28 points and 14 rebounds in two games. … Freshman Tara Cronin (Gonzaga Prep) moved into the starting lineup in Portland’s sixth game. … Freshman Jenna Galloway (Ferris) came off the bench for a career-high 18 points, but Northern Arizona lost to the host in the championship game of the Ball State tournament. … Freshman Katelan Redmon (Lewis and Clark) had a career-high 18 points as Washington beat Idaho in the first round of the Husky Classic. … Through Arizona State’s first three games, junior Briann January (LC) leads the team in assists (6.0), steals (2.7) and free-throw percentage (92.9) and is second in scoring (10.0). Her Sun Devils (2-2, both losses to top-10 teams) play Gonzaga in the first game of their tournament on Friday. … Texas Tech visits WSU on Saturday. …UC Irvine is at Eastern Washington on Friday and Utah State visits Sunday. … North Dakota State is at Idaho on Saturday.