University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Photo by: Dean Popejoy
Mallon's Role Vital to Bears' Success
1/23/2015 10:09:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Senior point guard Lindsay Mallon may not fill up the stat sheet, but her role on the team is vital
The pass-first point guard, it could be said, has gone the way of the four-corners offense; snuffed from the game in favor of flashier alternatives.
This makes senior Lindsay Mallon a rare breed, yet one that fits the bill of how the Bears can be successful.
"She doesn't need to score, but if we get seven or eight points out of her, that will be enough because the other parts of her game are going to really produce points and assists with how she runs our offense," women's basketball head coach Kamie Ethridge said.
Mallon's best games may seem unspectacular to the untrained eye, but it is her play that truly dictates that of others.
"You have to set the pace of the game, control the offense," Mallon said. "I can get on (my teammates), but I also want to be the first one to tell them, 'Good job,' and give out the most high fives."
In basketball, the role of creating shots for others, however, is oftentimes a thankless one. Points are the sexy statistic; assists pale in comparison.
"People probably look at scoring most times, and sometimes she doesn't have the most points, but she gets everybody else playing well and does all the little things," sophomore guard Kourteney Zadina said.
Indeed, Mallon's seven points last Saturday against North Dakota were her season-high, but she has put together 12 games this season with more assists than points, and 14 games with more assists than turnovers.
"The guards I want running our offense are those that pick and choose what needs to be done for their team, and that's what Lindsay does," Ethridge said.
A sport and exercise science major who will graduate in May, Mallon is seventh in the Big Sky in assists (71) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (71:34). Her 2.8 points per game are not wowing, but she doesn't seem to mind.
"I think my scoring has gone down in college, but I'm OK with that," Mallon said. "It's always been my style to make someone else look good through a pass rather than my own shot."
Late in that North Dakota game, Mallon gathered a defensive rebound, dribbled twice out to the 3-point line and zipped a football pass across the court and over the heads of all five defenders to a sprinting Stephanie Lee, who scored an easy transition lay-up on the other end. It briefly put the Bears ahead by two, and though the Bears lost, it was the quintessential play that Mallon's teammates have come to expect from her.
"She makes everybody else on the team better before she takes a shot herself," Lee said. "She does all the little things at the right time to help us win."
Mallon said she has been fortunate to be surrounded by talented players and scorers during her career — from the days of Kaisha Brown and Lauren Oosdyke to now with Lee and D'shara Strange — but their friendships are what have led to team accomplishments.
"I'm only as good as my team around me," Mallon said. "Going through my career with such great players, all-conference players, having them around me makes my job easier and probably makes me look better than I am.
"The success we've had on the court in my four years has really been because of the relationships we've built off the court."
Mallon's best game of the season arguably came when she recorded five points, seven rebounds, eight assists, one steal and no turnovers in a 19-point home victory Jan. 3 against Montana State in which the Bears shot 47.8 percent, their second-highest clip of the season.
"When the offense is playing well, that all starts with her," Ethridge said.
Mallon has expanded her game in her senior season under the tutelage of Ethridge and associate head coach Shalee Lehning, former All-American point guards at Texas (in 1985 and 1986) and Kansas State (2009), respectively.
"I've never been a penetrating point guard, but with Coach E, I've learned how to put pressure on the rim and get people open with my dribble," Mallon said. "Having Coach Shalee and Coach E as all-American point guards to learn from and how they used to run point helps me in how I run our offense now."
The Bears' first-year head coach, Ethridge accumulated a school-record 776 assists in her career at Texas, and as a senior guided the Longhorns to the national championship and a 34-0 record in the 1985-86 season. Ethridge was also a member of the 1988 United States Olympic team that won gold and was a 2002 inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, making her widely regarded as one of best point guards the women's college game has ever seen.
Ethridge was awarded the NCAA's Wade Trophy — given annually to the nation's best women's basketball player — as a senior while averaging, by her estimation, six points per game. It was her passing that made Ethridge so vital to her team.
"The game was a little different then, but I think I can relate really well to Lindsay," Ethridge said. "(The Wade Trophy) meant I was one of the best players in the country, and I didn't score. There are a million ways you can impact the game and lead your team and help your team win, and if Lindsay does those things, we're going to be really successful."
This makes senior Lindsay Mallon a rare breed, yet one that fits the bill of how the Bears can be successful.
"She doesn't need to score, but if we get seven or eight points out of her, that will be enough because the other parts of her game are going to really produce points and assists with how she runs our offense," women's basketball head coach Kamie Ethridge said.
Mallon's best games may seem unspectacular to the untrained eye, but it is her play that truly dictates that of others.
"You have to set the pace of the game, control the offense," Mallon said. "I can get on (my teammates), but I also want to be the first one to tell them, 'Good job,' and give out the most high fives."
In basketball, the role of creating shots for others, however, is oftentimes a thankless one. Points are the sexy statistic; assists pale in comparison.
"People probably look at scoring most times, and sometimes she doesn't have the most points, but she gets everybody else playing well and does all the little things," sophomore guard Kourteney Zadina said.
Indeed, Mallon's seven points last Saturday against North Dakota were her season-high, but she has put together 12 games this season with more assists than points, and 14 games with more assists than turnovers.
"The guards I want running our offense are those that pick and choose what needs to be done for their team, and that's what Lindsay does," Ethridge said.
A sport and exercise science major who will graduate in May, Mallon is seventh in the Big Sky in assists (71) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (71:34). Her 2.8 points per game are not wowing, but she doesn't seem to mind.
"I think my scoring has gone down in college, but I'm OK with that," Mallon said. "It's always been my style to make someone else look good through a pass rather than my own shot."
Late in that North Dakota game, Mallon gathered a defensive rebound, dribbled twice out to the 3-point line and zipped a football pass across the court and over the heads of all five defenders to a sprinting Stephanie Lee, who scored an easy transition lay-up on the other end. It briefly put the Bears ahead by two, and though the Bears lost, it was the quintessential play that Mallon's teammates have come to expect from her.
"She makes everybody else on the team better before she takes a shot herself," Lee said. "She does all the little things at the right time to help us win."
Mallon said she has been fortunate to be surrounded by talented players and scorers during her career — from the days of Kaisha Brown and Lauren Oosdyke to now with Lee and D'shara Strange — but their friendships are what have led to team accomplishments.
"I'm only as good as my team around me," Mallon said. "Going through my career with such great players, all-conference players, having them around me makes my job easier and probably makes me look better than I am.
"The success we've had on the court in my four years has really been because of the relationships we've built off the court."
Mallon's best game of the season arguably came when she recorded five points, seven rebounds, eight assists, one steal and no turnovers in a 19-point home victory Jan. 3 against Montana State in which the Bears shot 47.8 percent, their second-highest clip of the season.
"When the offense is playing well, that all starts with her," Ethridge said.
Mallon has expanded her game in her senior season under the tutelage of Ethridge and associate head coach Shalee Lehning, former All-American point guards at Texas (in 1985 and 1986) and Kansas State (2009), respectively.
"I've never been a penetrating point guard, but with Coach E, I've learned how to put pressure on the rim and get people open with my dribble," Mallon said. "Having Coach Shalee and Coach E as all-American point guards to learn from and how they used to run point helps me in how I run our offense now."
The Bears' first-year head coach, Ethridge accumulated a school-record 776 assists in her career at Texas, and as a senior guided the Longhorns to the national championship and a 34-0 record in the 1985-86 season. Ethridge was also a member of the 1988 United States Olympic team that won gold and was a 2002 inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, making her widely regarded as one of best point guards the women's college game has ever seen.
Ethridge was awarded the NCAA's Wade Trophy — given annually to the nation's best women's basketball player — as a senior while averaging, by her estimation, six points per game. It was her passing that made Ethridge so vital to her team.
"The game was a little different then, but I think I can relate really well to Lindsay," Ethridge said. "(The Wade Trophy) meant I was one of the best players in the country, and I didn't score. There are a million ways you can impact the game and lead your team and help your team win, and if Lindsay does those things, we're going to be really successful."
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