Monarchs Blog and Q&A

Bee staff writer Melody Gutierrez grew up in Twentynine Palms. At 14-years-old, she decided to combine her two passions -- sports and writing -- when she became a special assignments reporter for the Desert Trail, her hometown weekly newspaper. Melody headed to Northern California in 2000 to attend Chico State and has remained in the region ever since. She earned an internship with The Bee and subsequently became a staff writer in 2004 and has covered virtually every sport, starting with high schools, up through college and then the pros. Melody took over coverage of the Monarchs last season and chronicled the team's pursuit of a second straight league championship -- a quest that fell just short.

Melody welcomes your questions and will answer as many as she can as the season progresses.

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May 19, 2007

Observations from the Palace

Jenny Boucek will log her first game as a head coach when the Monarchs and
Shock take the floor at 12:30 p.m. today
“There are some nerves doing something for the first time, but it’s good
nerves,” Boucek said before heading to chapel with several members of her
team.

While Kristin Haynie and Yolanda Griffith listened to music to get focused
before warm-ups, Nicole Powell organized her things inside the locker room.
Powell said her pre-game routine involves a cup of coffee in the morning and
a sugar-free Red Bull when she arrives at the arena.

Several sections of the Palace have been named after Shock players,
including Katie’s Korner, Brax Pack, the Ford Faction and Nolan’s Nation.

Today is Shock coach Bill Laimbeer’s 50th birthday.

WNBA president Donna Orender made her way through the arena, stopping to
chat with Ivory Latta’s parents. Latta will play her first WNBA game after
coming off a successful career at North Carolina, where she finished as the
all-time leading scorer in school history for the men’s and women’s
basketball programs with 4,319 points.

Here are the match-ups for today’s game:
Chelsea Newton will guard Katie Smith
Ticha Penicheiro will guard Deanna Nolan
Nicole Powell will guard Swin Cash
DeMya Walker will guard Kara Braxton
Yolanda Griffith will guard Cheryl Ford

Posted by tnegrete, May 19, 2007 12:19 PM

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