Lady Rattlers Motorin´ on to Heartland Tournament

The Lady Rattlers are off to the Heartland Tournament. (Photo by Robin Johnson / St. Mary's Athletics)

DENTON, Texas — Making a pit stop Wednesday on their road to the championship, the Lady Rattlers stopped in Denton, Texas after a day of driving through the Heartland soaking in their extended season play.

Amidst the comedies on the charter–bus television, the giggles and jokes, and the downtime for chow, the Lady Rattlers haven’t lost sight of their reason for their trip — competing in the Heartland Conference Tournament.

It was a vision that was once not so clear.

“We’re proud of our team for making this far,” said senior forward Amber Sophus. “A lot of people didn’t think we could do it. But we went out there and worked hard.”

Rolling in to Denton around 10 p.m. and the St. Mary’s campus a few hours behind them, the Lady Rattlers were visibly ready to hit the blankets as they were set for an early–morning, 7 a.m. departure Thursday to complete their journey to Wichita, Kansas.

The arrival of St. Mary’s a few states from home will quickly nip in the bud the jovial times on the bus, as it’s game on for the Rattlers, who are scheduled to practice at 1 p.m. Thursday.

St. Mary’s will tip off against top–seeded Newman in the Heartland Conference Tournament semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday, with a shot to advance to Saturday’s championship game.

“We have the mindset that we’re going to go out there and win our game,” Sophus said. “And if not, we know we’ll have done as much as we could and have left everything on the court.”

St. Mary’s University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men’s basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men’s golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men’s golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary’s also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary’s student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.stmarytx.edu/athletics.

    

Coaching Staff

Head Coach Jason Martens

Jason Martens is in his seventh season as the head coach and 10th year overall with the St. Mary's women's basketball program. And last season, he became the winningest coach in school history.

With a career mark of 111-63, Martens surpassed Tom Weeaks, who held the top spot with a 101-47 record.

Last season, Martins turned a young team that included three, and sometimes four, new players in the regular rotation into a Heartland Conference contender. After losing nine of their first 10 games of the 2011-12 season, the Lady Rattlers charged back as the team Martens envisioned, turning around to go undefeated in the first four games of Heartland Conference play to temporarily hold the top spot in the league. St. Mary's ended up advancing to the quarterfinals of the Heartland Conference Tournament with a 13-16 overall record, paving the way for a seemingly bright future to come.

Newcomer Jackie Edwards, who returns this upcoming season, was the breakout talent, being selected to the All-Conference First Team as well as being named the league's Newcomer of the Year. The guard averaged a team-high 12.4 points per game and led the team in assists with a total of 84 on the season. Alongside Edwards was freshman Morgan Pullins, who made strong waves by averaging 9.8 points per game with team-highs in blocks (25) and steals (47). Reaching the 6-foot ruler, the post was selected to the All-Conference Second Team and received the league's Freshman of the Year award. Senior DeAnna Patterson was the last of the Lady Rattlers to receive honors, earning All-Conference Honorable Mention.

Breaking through a rocky start, Martens' Lady Rattlers quickly gelled to become a team to watch. And with their new faces suddenly experienced, this season has potential to make statements right from the start.

In 2010-11, Martens had another winning year with an overall record of 15-12. The Rattlers and Martens had an even better Heartland Conference season, with a record of 7-3 and finishing as the No. 3 seed in the conference. Martens has two returning seniors to his squad this year, along with several veterans and a few new fresh legs that hope to bring home another winning season for the Rattlers.

In 2009-10, the Rattlers went 22-8, earning their third straight 20-plus-win season under Martens. They also won the Heartland Conference and advanced to the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament for the third straight year.

In 2007-08, the Rattlers rocketed into the top-25 nationally, posting a 25-5 record, a 24-game win streak, and won the Heartland Conference regular season and postseason championships. The Rattlers earned an at-large berth in the NCAA South Central Region Tournament. Martens was named Heartland Conference Coach of Year, while Natalie Gamez was named Heartland Conference Player of the Year and Mallory Moeller earned Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year.

In his first season as head coach, Martens led the Rattlers to 12 wins and a berth in the Heartland Conference Tournament semifinals. St. Mary's overcame a slow start to win 11 of its last 18 games and qualify for the HC Tournament. Two Rattlers were named All-Heartland Conference: Natalie Gamez and Charlena Rodez.

Martens was with the Rattler women's basketball program for the previous three years as an assistant coach. He helped the program produce 46 wins, a Heartland Conference Championship and a berth into the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament. Nine Rattlers were named All-Heartland Conference over those three seasons. Martens oversaw recruiting, assisted with scheduling and assisted with scouting while serving as an assistant coach for two years at St. Mary's.

Prior to his arrival in San Antonio, Martens served as assistant women's basketball coach at Lamar University in Beaumont for two seasons. He also was an assistant men's basketball coach at Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., for two years.

Martens graduated from Bethel College in 2000 with two bachelor's of science degrees, one in business administration and one in accounting. He received his master's of public administration degree from Lamar University in 2003. As an athlete, he earned all-conference and academic all-conference honors in football at Bethel. He also competed in basketball and track and field at the school. Before transferring to Bethel, he was a junior college All-American in track and field at Hutchison (Kan.) Community College.

Martens is married to the former DonLouise Meyer and they have two children, Jaden and Alexis.

Assistant Coach Chanlee Bottoms

Chanlee Bottoms' coaching style directly mirrors her old playing style -- fast-paced.

So, as the newest addition to St. Mary's coaching staff, the one-time run-and-gun point guard has quickly discovered she should fit right in working alongside head women's basketball coach Jason Martens.

Bottoms, a former student assistant at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, will enter her second season as St. Mary's new assistant women's basketball coach. She is the Lady Rattlers' recruiting coordinator in addition to overseeing the squad's strength and conditioning, coaching guard play and monitoring academics. In her first year working with Martens, Bottoms saw quick success as the Lady Rattlers enjoyed a trip to the Heartland Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Bottoms spent the previous two seasons as the student assistant coach at UA Fort Smith, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in organizational leadership in May. With the Lady Lions, she was in charge of many of the areas she will oversee at St. Mary's, monitoring academics, managing the strength and conditioning program and preparing practices. UA Fort Smith went 21-5 and posted an 11-1 record against Heartland Conference opponents last season.

Bottoms, who plans to pursue her master's degree at St. Mary's, averaged 13 points, four assists and two steals as a sophomore before transferring to Henderson State to finish her career. She helped lead the Lady Lions, with whom she played two seasons, to the 2006 NJCAA Region II tournament title and to the NJCAA national tournament.

At Henderson State, she averaged 12.1 points, 2.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game. In high school, she helped lead Alma High School to the Class 5A state championship as a senior, when she averaged 18 points per contest.

At St. Mary's, Bottoms is with yet another program with winning expectations, as the Lady Rattlers have won 20-plus games in three of Martens' seven seasons at the helm. St. Mary's went 13-16 last season, advancing to the Heartland Conference quarterfinals.

2012-13 Women's Basketball Roster

2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 Heartland Conference Champs