Girls rule

JMU's all-time leading scorer in women's basketball, Holly Rillinger ('97), and two former lacrosse players, Amy Brew ('00) and Charlotte Graham ('01), were featured in the May/June 2002 issue of Sports Illustrated for Women.

Rillinger's relatively short stature for a hoopster (5 feet, 5 inches) is spoofed as an "obstacle" in the magazine's regular column, "What's My Sport?" A photo of the muscular, ab-packed Rillinger stands by the headline, as writer Kimberly Collins asks readers to guess her sport. "I do a lot of abdominal work because abs affect balance, quickness and center of gravity," Ril-linger says. "I try to do 150 to 200 crunches three times a week."

The dedication of this Waynesboro native has paid off. She was recruited by the Atlanta Moose, a men's league team in the Global Basketball Alliance. In 1998-99 Rillinger competed in professional women's basketball leagues in New Zealand and Germany, but her dream is to get picked up by a WNBA team.

Brew and Graham, members of JMU's 2000 NCAA semifinalist lacrosse team, are featured in the article, "Life Without Lacrosse is not an Option." Writer Susan Orenstein interviewed former college lacrosse players who have continued to play for an amateur team, because there are not any professional women's lacrosse leagues or Olympic events. Brew and Graham both play for Baltimore's Team Toyota, which was formed because former college players "can't stand not playing."

Brew, who has played lacrosse since fifth grade, says, that it was "odd" to not be playing and that she missed her college teammates. Team Toyota is much like a homegrown league, but, Brew admits, "playing outside the spotlight brings you back to what you love about the sport."