By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

Miami's Heather Cusick. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

This is how far Miami women's basketball has come since Heather Cusick arrived on campus in 1999.

Cusick came to Oxford because she knew she would play as a freshman.

Now, the RedHawks don't need the Mid-American Conference's best player to play as much. Cusick is averaging seven fewer minutes per game this season than she did last season.

That's not to say Miami doesn't need Cusick at all. The 5-foot-8 senior point guard, who owns the program's career assists record and is on pace to break the scoring record by early February, is still the team's key player.

The RedHawks started this season 4-1 before losing five of their last six games. They open MAC play Tuesday at home against Akron.

"I like our schedule to be very competitive," said fifth-year coach Maria Fantanarosa, a Miami graduate whose record has improved every season. "I think it gives us a measuring stick of where we are. It's OK if the wins and losses aren't perfect, as long as we continue to improve. I think we have grown as a team."

Much of that improvement is due to the RedHawks' increased depth. They have 13 scholarship players, a dramatic improvement over Fantanarosa's first season, when she didn't have a freshman class. All five starters are back this season.

"Our transition offense is very good right now," Fantanarosa said. "We're doing a great job of running the floor and seeing open people. Our up-tempo system is in place. Last year, we weren't deep enough to press defensively. Now, we're deeper. We rotate nine players. That gives us some versatility and allows us to keep the pressure up."

Added Cusick: "Our chemistry on the court has been good, and off the court as well. We're trying to be more up-tempo. We have the players and athletes to do that."

Cusick has 248 career steals and might pass Monica Niemann, who played at MU from 1991-95, for second place on the RedHawks' career steals list.

But it's Cusick's offense that's most eye-catching. She's the first Miami player to record 500 career assists, and she has enjoyed more 20-point games (29) than any other player. She has 200 3-pointers, nine short of a RedHawks record.

Cusick also is on pace to supplant Niemann as the school's leading career scorer in Miami's Feb. 3 game at Ball State.

"Being a point guard, I'm a big fan of assists," said Cusick, who has been named MAC East Division Player of the Week twice this season and Scholar-Athlete of the Week once. "I like getting the team involved as long as we're scoring points."

Cusick could become the first player in MAC history to compile 1,500 points, 500 assists, 400 rebounds, 300 steals and 200 3-point field goals in her career. She is the first Miami player to earn all-conference honors in each of her first three seasons, and last season she joined 1983 winner Linda Mallender as the only RedHawks to be named MAC Player of the Year.

"It really hasn't hit me," Cusick said of her career accomplishments. "I'm just focusing on working hard every day in practice and during the off-season, and being on a great team that I think is coming together."

Fantanarosa recalls that Cusick wasn't heavily recruited coming out of Kokomo (Ind.) High School, where she helped her AAU team win four consecutive state championships and one national title.

"She wasn't the type of player who would fit into every coach's system," Fantanarosa said. "She had some of the intangibles I look for in that position. She's competitive. She's scrappy and hardworking, and she's unselfish. When you recruit that, you can teach a lot of the other things. She was one player you knew would learn the system quickly and take responsibility for it, and she'd be better than average at playing it."

Cusick quickly picked up Miami's system and has played in every game of her career.

"I like putting players on the court who play to win," Fantanarosa said. "You want the competitive ones who play hard and play to win. When you're rebuilding, you need that kind of attitude to be contagious. That combination of improvement and attitude makes us better as a team."

Fantanarosa doesn't believe Cusick's performance stems in any way from trying to prove wrong those coaches who passed on her.

"I think she just loves the game," the coach said. "She has that hard-worker mentality. It's important to her to improve every day and help Miami win a championship."

The RedHawks' next step - a MAC championship - That next step for the RedHawks is tantalizingly close. Miami, which last won a won the last of its three league championship in 1989-1990, has posted three consecutive second-place finishes in the in the MAC East Division, and reached the conference tournament semifinals each of the last two seasons.

"I think for the three seniors there's a sense of urgency," Cusick said. , who is on course to graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in sports organization and was one of four RedHawks named to the MAC Academic Honor Roll last season. "We want to go out as champions. All of the younger players are following along."

How Cusick ranks

Heather Cusick's rank on Miami's list for career points, assists and steals:

Points

1. Monica Niemann: 1991-95, 1,608.

2. Mary Ann Myers: 1979-82, 1,600.

3. Heather Cusick: 1999-present, 1,460.

Assists

1. Heather Cusick: 1999-present, 510.

2. Carrie Kent: 1993-97, 445.

3. Linda Mallender: 1981-85, 394.

Steals

1. Mary Ann Myers: 1979-82, 417.

2. Monica Niemann: 1991-95, 284.

3. Heather Cusick: 1999-present, 248.