Harper's Catamounts have toughness

Western Carolina will have a plan for playing the women’s basketball equivalent of Don Quixote.

More importantly, the Lady Catamounts will brandish an attitude.

“Our kids step on the court and expect to win,’’ Western Carolina coach Kellie (Jolly) Harper said. “Our team wants to win championships. That’s our goal. It’s not good enough being close or winning a few games.”

Taking on ninth-ranked Tennessee (3-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena won’t require an expectations overhaul. Harper thinks that her coaching counterpart will appreciate the consistency.

“That’s my mentality,’’ she said. “Coach (Pat) Summitt wouldn’t want me to have a different mentality.”

Otherwise, Summitt might not recognize her former point guard, who helped guide the Lady Vols to three consecutive national championships from 1996-98. She recovered from reconstructive knee surgery in less than three months to play a part in the celebrated 10-loss championship season of 1996-97.

Harper is in her fifth season at Western Carolina and Summitt sees Harper’s imprint on the program.

“They have a toughness,’’ Summitt said. “They’re aggressive. They play hard. It’s not like she’s having to coach effort. I think they understand the intensity they have to bring.”

March Madness enabled Harper to bring her team here in 2005 as a first-year coach. The Lady Catamounts won the Southern Conference tournament as a No. 6 seed, earning the program’s first NCAA tournament berth.

While Western Carolina has yet to reach another Big Dance, there are signs of progress. The Lady Catamounts (2-1) are coming off a school-record 25-victory season that included the team’s first win over a top 25 opponent (No. 21 Louisville) and concluded with a second consecutive WNIT appearance.

Despite losing four seniors, three of whom were starters, from that team, the Lady Catamounts still are picked to finish second in their conference behind perennial champion Chattanooga.

Western Carolina’s visit to Knoxville this season comes courtesy of a Summitt invitation. The Lady Vols had an opening on their schedule.

San Francisco, coached by former Lady Vol Tanya Haave, was here for the season opener but unlike the Dons, Harper and her crew won’t be checking out how the other half competes. The Lady Catamounts opened the season against then-No. 4 North Carolina, losing 90-56 in the preseason WNIT.

“I think for Kellie, any time you do play against an opponent that’s got an advantage size-wise — and I think our depth probably is going to be a factor — it’s always good in terms of what they can gain,’’ Summitt said. “Just playing in this type of environment as well as playing against our pressure, now that we have a little.”

Western Carolina will counter with some size — specifically 6-foot-4 senior Brooke Johnson, who’s from Seymour and transferred from Carson-Newman College. Last season, she was averaging 11.9 points per game and had grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds against Middle Tennessee State. Then she suffered a season-ending knee injury.

“She’s not 100 percent,’’ Harper said of Johnson. “For us, she needs to be 100 percent in January or February.

“She’s getting better daily.”

Ranking: UT hasn’t been as low as No. 9 in the weekly Associated Press top 25 poll since Jan. 3, 2005.

Injury Report: Freshman Alicia Manning, along with Kelley Cain (concussion) and Angie Bjorklund (bulging disc in back), is out for tonight’s game after suffering a concussion in Sunday’s game against Louisiana Tech.

“For it not being a contact sport, it seems like a lot of contact lately,’’ said Jenny Moshak, the Lady Vols associate athletic director for sports medicine.