Dec. 20, 2004

Keisha Bailey is a normal female college student at FAU except for two things: she's 6-foot-5 and she LOVES the Golden Girls.

The senior center, who was almost six feet tall by the time she began playing basketball in eighth grade, turned that height into four years of the sport at Wayne High School in Huber Heights, a suburb of Dayton.

"Basically, in high school it was `oh my god you're tall' and you automatically play basketball," said Bailey. "Some people don't understand that it takes skill to be tall and have the coordination skills to play basketball."

After graduating with admittedly "terrible" grades from Wayne, the only place for Bailey to continue her basketball career at that time was in junior college.

"Junior college really helped me out academically because I realized that I would have struggled if I'd gone straight to a four-year school," said Bailey. "A lot of people look down on junior college, but if you feel like you're not academically strong, then why not go?"

Bailey chose St. Catharine College, an independent Catholic school in St. Catharine, Kentucky that opened in 1920. As a Patriot, she led the team in rebounds and blocks, leading to attention from four year schools, including FAU.

"I really started to develop my game in my sophomore year in junior college and my junior year here at FAU," said Bailey, who first learned of FAU's existence when Lady Owls' coach Chancellor Dugan began recruiting her.

In that first year as an Owl, Bailey played a minor part on Dugan's 12-16 squad, averaging 0.7 points and 6.4 minutes a game, but she wasn't disappointed.

"At first it was frustrating, but I knew that I had to learn the system," said Bailey. "Plus, I had to get myself mentally and physically strong."

"I asked a lot of questions and now I realize that I learned a lot by just watching (senior post players) Trineca McCleod and DeeAnna Hanscom."

This season has not been much different for Bailey who has played a total of only eight minutes in the Owls' eight games, despite being the only true center on the roster and the tallest member by three inches.

"Playing-wise, I don't care if I touch the floor as long as we win," said Bailey. "If I can contribute, then that's fine, but it's all about winning to me."

"I can do stuff on the bench that I can't do in a game like talk more, especially to the people on defense. If I get in the game, that's just a plus."

When she does step foot on the playing surface, Bailey sees her defensive ability and her vocal leadership as her greatest strengths.

As for the Owls' 1-7 record, Bailey says don't be fooled.

"If you looked at our record now you might think, `oh they're done', but we're not," said Bailey. "We're going to pull it out. We're going to raise it to the next level."

The Lady Owls will look to snap a four-game losing skid on Thursday, December 30th when they host Bethune-Cookman at 7 p.m.