Lemnus quits NDSU womens team

Jenna Lemnus is not just any player to quit at NDSU. She's an Enderlin native that PLAYED at Lousivlle. She wasn't just recruited or walking on at Louisville. She played. Evidently something happened at NDSU and the spin from Coach Ruley smells that she wasnt happy with Lemnus.

Personally when three players quit a team during the season there are issues. Will NDSU address them or is Ruley just given a free pass with her history at NDSU? I hope note. I hope for the sake of ALL Bison players and alumni the truth comes out. I wish players could feel free about saying the system is broke or Ruley isn't the coach she used to be. But that probably won't happen and all we can do is guess as to what happened.

here's the story

North Dakota State women’s basketball player Jenna Lemnus left the team Friday – the third NDSU player to do so this season.

All were backups and all saw little playing time. Head coach Amy Ruley cited “Division I commitment” as a common theme for the defections, something she said other coaches told her would happen with the transition from NCAA Division II.

“They said then you’ll get to the point of having that Division I commitment and then you build from there,” Ruley said.

“They said you’re going to have kids defect. They said it’s going to happen.”

Lemnus’ departure comes on the heels of Summit League home games against Missouri-Kansas City today and Southern Utah on Monday. The 6-foot-3 senior from Enderlin, N.D., a transfer from the University of Louisville, was averaging 1.5 points and 1.7 rebounds.

She missed the first five games of the season with an illness. She was the third center to see the floor in losses at Indiana Purdue-Indianapolis and Western Illinois last weekend and played just a combined six minutes.

“She said I didn’t give her a chance,” Ruley said. “It’s been a roller coaster. My point is you got to want to be here. You have to want to work. She was sick to start the year and she never seemed to get back on track.”

Sophomore forward Georgia Popovici left the team two weeks ago and freshman guard Tessa Wilka transferred to Augustana College (S.D.) over Christmas. Both rarely played.

“We’ve had some kids quit in the past on some really successful teams,” Ruley said. “When the going gets tough – all those things – the tough get going.”