AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 2003-04 SEASON, HEAD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH KENNY BROOKS KNEW HIS TEAM WOULD BE YOUNG; and after the first few days of practice, he thought he may be in for a long season. "The first couple days of preseason, the freshmen were throwing the ball all over the place," he says.

Freshmen Meredith Alexis, Andrea Benvenuto, Lesley Dickinson, Shameena Felix and Shirley McCall spent their first season smashing records and proving their head coach wrong.

"Before practice even started, I knew the freshmen would play a prominent role," says Brooks. "They had to come in and step up with the loss of Shanna Price, Nadine Morgan and Jess Cichowicz to graduation. That trio ranked among all-time leaders in points, rebounds and assists. We needed a special class to come in and replace their contributions."

The 2004 freshmen quintet came ready to perform. In the season opener against Jacksonville State, Dickinson scored a team-high 15 points, and Alexis grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. McCall tallied 13 points two games later. Benvenuto had eight assists in her fifth game, and Felix had a career-high 12 points against Old Dominion. "This class is setting the foundation, and I never thought in a million years they would be able to contribute as much as they have," Brooks admits.

The freshmen five already have their handwriting all over JMU's record books. Freshman records for minutes played, points, rebounds and assists all fell this season. Dickinson set the freshman record for points in a season (476) and the all-time record for free throws made in a season (136). Alexis set the all-time record for rebounds in a season with 322. Dickinson was named Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year, and both players earned all-conference third-team honors. It was the first time that a JMU freshman earned all-conference accolades. The freshmen played 60 percent of the team's minutes, (another school record).

Brooks had at least two of his freshmen on the court for the entire season, and often up to four at a time. Dickinson led the team in scoring, Alexis topped the conference and team in rebounding, and Benvenuto was among conference leaders in assists. The freshman class combined to out score and out rebound the rest of the team in all but one of the 31 games. George Mason ended JMU's season in the quarterfinals of the CAA women's championships.

Throughout sports history, rookies have learned from veterans, but JMU's 2004 freshmen didn't even have the luxury of a learning curve. With only four upperclassmen on the roster, the group had to learn on the fly. "This team can only get better because of the way they learned on the court," says Brooks. "They still have a lot to learn, and it's going to be a special team once, collectively, they start feeding off one another and learning one another's moves."

-- David Biancamano