Jan. 10, 2002

By Amy Fiscus
MU Media Relations Office

Amy Loftus does not need to be reminded of how tall she is.

"Probably the question I get tired of answering is how tall I am," she says. "Sometimes I tell them I'm 5-foot-2 and they're like, 'uh-uh?' "

For the record, the 6-foot-4 Loftus is the tallest Tiger, and that height advantage has helped her snare 3.4 rebounds per game this year in less than nine minutes of action per contest.

"I like being a cheerleader," Loftus says of her role of coming off the bench, "but I like it as a part-time job. That's what keeps me motivated. There's a friendly competition between all of us."

It took time for Loftus to adjust to head coach Cindy Stein's up-tempo game, but she uses her own style of play to gain playing time. Loftus considers her biggest advantage to be her strength, which makes her difficult to guard.

"I can throw people around. It probably comes from when I used to throw guys around in hockey," she said.

Ahh, yes, hockey. That other winter sport. It was Loftus' first love growing up in Maryville, Ill., outside of St. Louis.

"I played it in high school and junior high," Loftus said. "I was good. I was the only girl and I was better than a lot of the guys. At first they wouldn't let me play because I was a girl and then they would be surprised when I finally did. I used to play seven hours a day."

Loftus eventually gave up hockey for basketball because the more popular sport would afford her more chances for a college scholarship. Women's hockey was not nearly as popular just a few years ago as it is today and will continue to be, with it being a medal sport at the Winter Olympics in February.

There was another reason Loftus chose basketball, though, and it had nothing to do with a time conflict. Loftus was cut from her seventh-grade basketball team, despite standing 6-foot at the time.

"People were like, 'wow, you really must be bad,' and I didn't think I was. The eighth-grade girls, who had seen me play, were surprised by it, too," said Loftus.

She spent the next year working harder at her game and preparing for tryouts in eighth grade. She made the team and wound up averaging nearly 20 points per game. A year later, as a freshman at Collinsville High School, the coaches moved her up to junior varsity. Her coach? It was the same one from seventh grade. Loftus asked him once why he had cut her, but he would not give her a straight answer, but she does not dwell on it.

"Oh, well," she said. "I guess I showed him, huh?"

The only other basketball setback Loftus remembers encountering was last season, as a freshman at MU.

"Last year I used to be so nervous," she said. "That's probably why I didn't play a lot. I used to be so nervous in practice and in games. I was so nervous everywhere last year but now I just go in. I felt a little inferior, being a freshman, being new to the program. It pretty much took me all year to adjust (to college)."

Now, Loftus says, everything is in order again. She has chosen a major - advertising - that she hopes will propel her to a career working for Nike or a similar corporation. Her playing time has gone up and the Tigers are off to a great start, better than many people had predicted given the loss of three top scorers.

The work is just beginning, however, as Loftus knows.

"We're a young team so hopefully we grow as much as we can. We need to be intense every day and stay motivated."