Ten minutes into last night's game, the only drama left for the women's basketball team was whether or not it would reach the century mark in its rout of West Virginia.

The Lady Lions ended up short of 100 points in their 82-65 victory, but along the way managed to get impressive efforts from several young players. Suzie McConnell and Bethany Collins turned in their usual outstanding efforts but last night was also a time for some of tomorrow's team leaders to shine.

Both Stefeni Thomas and Adrie DeVries made major impressions with solid offense and rebounding. Ironically, Thomas recently replaced DeVries at a starting forward position, a change that appears to have affected both positively.

Thomas opened the game by netting a layup off a pass from McConnell 12 seconds into the contest. Although Collins scored the Lady Lions' next eight points, Head Coach Rene Portland felt Thomas posed the biggest problem for the West Virginia defense.

"It certainly helped having Stefeni come ready to play and score the first bucket," she explained. "I think when (WVU Coach Scott Harrelson) saw her in the lineup, he had no clue what Stefeni could do and he had difficulty matching up with her."

Thomas went on to add two layups, an eight-foot jumpshot and a free throw to her total before halftime. The freshman forward finished her second consecutive start with 10 points and four rebounds and also started a run of 11 second half points by DeVries with an impressive fastbreak assist in traffic.

"That's one thing I think I've been missing because, in high school, I used to do everything," Thomas said of her assist to Devries. "Now there are other people out there to pick up the slack so I got away from (the all-around game) for a while."

While Thomas did most of her scoring damage in the game's early stages, DeVries turned an ordinary night into a 15-point explosion with 11 markers in the final eight minutes. Thomas' assist led to a layup and free throw by the 6-4 center, who added a six-foot jumper, two foul shots, a 15-footer and a tip-in in her spurt. DeVries also pulled down five rebounds on the night.

DeVries' effort came as no surprise to Portland, who had hoped to light a fire under the sophomore by bringing her off the bench.

"I always thought Adrie was good," she said. "I started her for 17 games. Adrie was the only one, I think, who didn't think she was ready to play.

I think she needed to be challenged and I think taking her out of the lineup challenged her."

DeVries agrees that coming off the bench has worked for her.

"There's less pressure, but I know I'll be going in," she explained. "I know what I can do well and I've got things I'm more shaky on. I've improved a lot, but I never thought I was a bad player."

Thomas and DeVries weren't the only unsung heroes last night, however. Junior forward Lisa Lambert had one of the best games of her career, scoring eight points and and grabbing eight rebounds in just ten minutes of playing time.

Freshman guard Tanya Garner continued her return from a leg injury on a night when all 12 Lady Lions saw action, notching two points and two assists in 16 minutes. Sophomore guard Shelly Caplinger also played a strong game with five steals and five points, including a long three- pointer.