As team leader, Rusin hopes to channel BC's past success

Corey Rusin remembers that magical season well.

Just two years ago, a women's basketball team full of upperclassmen made an improbable run to the Sweet 16 as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Rusin, then a wide-eyed freshman guard, enjoyed being a part of a team that had great chemistry, and most of all, the same kind of success that she had experienced at Wilmington and then Twin Valley High School in Vermont.

But last season was a different story for Rusin and the Eagles.

For the first time since the 2000-01 season, BC missed the NCAA tournament and finished the year with a losing record.

It was a humbling experience for a player whose combined record in high school was 83-10.

"As soon as the season ended last year we looked forward to this season," Rusin said. "A lot of the little things we did right my freshman year we lacked last year."

As a co-captain this season and one of the two players remaining from the 2005-06 squad, Rusin hopes that the Eagles can quickly make last year an anomaly and continue BC's winning tradition.

"[My] freshman year we were a Sweet 16 team, so getting experience and seeing how the upperclassmen handled themselves that year, coming into [this year], I know what it takes to get to that Sweet 16 spot," Rusin said.

Returning to the March Madness may be a tough task for the Eagles, a team with six freshmen, three sophomores, and a senior transfer, Rebecca Miles, playing in her first season at BC.

But for Rusin, the smiling junior from Wilmington, Vt., a town of just over 2,000, it is a challenge she embraces with confidence.

A familiar challenge

As a junior at Wilmington High School, Rusin, along with four senior starters, took home the Division IV state championship in 2004.

For Wilmington, the state title was the culmination of success in years prior, aided by the dynamic play of Rusin.

But the following year, those four seniors were gone, leaving Rusin as the undisputed leader of a young team.

Also, Wilmington High School closed the summer before Rusin's senior year and merged with Whitingham High School to form Twin Valley High School.

Still, even at a new school, it was Rusin's team.

As a senior she put up staggering numbers, averaging 27.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 5.2 steals per game, good enough to be named Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year. Twin Valley made a run deep into the postseason, but fell short in the state tournament. Rusin, however, took a lot away from her experience leading a young team.

"I learned a lot from that year and just making sure everyone contributed to the team," Rusin said. "Having a young team, you really need to be close and have good team chemistry to build the success that you've lost."

Coming into Boston College, Rusin was part of a similar chemistry established by the leaders of that team.

In fact, even before joining the Eagles, Rusin admired how her future teammates carried themselves on the court.

"I'd look up to them so much as individuals and as players," Rusin said. "Their freshman year I watched them when I was still in high school. Still then I looked up to them and how they carried on the BC tradition. They're very skilled players and they were just fun to play with."

Now, in just two years, Rusin is the most experienced player on this BC team, and has taken on the role of emotional leader in her junior year.

Home improvement

Perhaps the most significant change in Rusin's role on the team will be her time on the floor.

Last season, while averaging just over 10 minutes a game, she earned the team leadership award. This season, with the starting line-up not set in stone, she will be called upon for her leadership both on and off the floor.

"Our team is very versatile this year," she said. "It's going to be hard for Coach [Cathy Inglese] to even pick a starting lineup, because we're all competing for spots. We all bring our own different unique style, and there's a lot of us."

As for the large freshman class, Rusin feels that they have been brought up to speed during the summer, but recognizes that there will be more challenges ahead for a class expected to have an immediate impact in a conference as talented as the ACC.

"All of them have great personalities, great work ethic," she said of the class. "Coach Inglese always brings great people into the program so that's expected."

Rusin's responsibilities as co-captain will be tough, blending in the six freshmen along with others on the team that have not spent as much time playing at BC. It is Rusin and Brittany Johnson that remain from the team's last trip to the NCAA tournament. But the memory of that success is what drives Rusin to believe it can be attained again at the school.

"I have high expectations for myself because the team is on my shoulders, and the success is on my shoulders," Rusin said. "Me and Brittany know what it takes to get to the Sweet 16 and where we want to be this year."