THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 15, 1995 TAG: 9503150583
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Under normal circumstances, Old Dominion women's basketball coach Wendy Larry would probably be one of Florida International's biggest fans.
The Golden Panthers' head coach, Cindy Russo, is a former teammate of Larry's on the Lady Monarchs squads of the mid-1970s. Florida International's associate head coach is former ODU All-American Inge Nissen, whom Larry guided as an assistant coach during the 1979-80 season when ODU won its second consecutive AIAW national championship.
Add to the mix that Anne Donovan - Nissen's teammate during her final season - is now an assistant coach under Larry, and you have what should be a mutual admiration society.
But on Thursday, when the teams meet in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., those ties that bind will be severed - for a few hours.
``It's just another game,'' Larry said. ``When the ball gets tipped up, you don't think about ties.''
Russo echoed her former teammate's sentiments.
``If we didn't play them, Inge and I would be rooting for ODU for sure,'' she said in a phone call from Miami.
``But we're out there as coaches now. It's not hard to leave those things behind.''
When she came to ODU in 1972, Russo was a local recruit, having grown up in Portsmouth and attended Portsmouth Catholic. After her days as a player, Russo spent two years with the Lady Monarchs as an assistant coach (she recruited the Danish-born Nissen) before taking the head coaching position at Florida International as a graduate assistant.
After a year, Russo left to coach at Lamar University in Texas, where her teams recorded back-to-back 20-11 seasons. Then the Golden Panthers enticed Russo to return to Miami, where she has spent the last 16 years.
Nissen took a much different path to Florida International. After her career at ODU she spent the 1980-81 season in the Women's Pro Basketball League. After the league disbanded, she played professionally for six years in France and Italy.
It was then that Russo began making her pitch.
``I'd been trying for years to convince Inge to get into coaching,'' she said. ``I finally did.''
Nissen is in her sixth season with the Golden Panthers and is Florida International's recruiting coordinator - the same position held by Donovan at ODU.
Although Larry maintains that the Lady Monarchs will be all business when the game begins, coaching against Florida International is not an experience she relishes.
``I've never liked playing friends because it's more difficult to sever those emotional ties,'' she said. ``But you have to put those things aside. This is an NCAA (tournament) game, and you have to do whatever you can to advance.
``In any case, someone from Old Dominion will win.''
FINAL POLL: Although they fell short during the regular season, the Lady Monarchs came through in the final Associated Press poll, earning top 25 honors.
Old Dominion (27-5) received 27 points, finishing 25th. The Lady Monarchs never cracked the top 25 during the season, although they received votes.
``What's interesting about it is that it's the last poll of the season. It's the one that goes into the record books,'' Larry said. ``For this team, it's indicative of what the future holds.''
Florida International garnered 19 points, 27th-best. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Florida International coach Wendy Russo, left, and assistant Inge
Nissen are ex-Lady Monarchs with strong ties to ODU's Wendy Larry.
by CNB