Ladyjacks Prepare for Exhibition Contests
10/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 30, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Fans will get their first look at the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack basketball team Monday, Nov. 2, when it opens the 2009-10 basketball season with the first of two exhibition games. The Ladyjacks will host St. Mary's (TX) Monday at 6 p.m. SFA will hold one final exhibition Friday, Nov. 6 against Ouachita Baptist at 7 p.m. Both games will be played in the William R. Johnson Coliseum.
The Ladyjacks enter the 2009-10 campaign with one of the more veteran teams in the league returning 11 letterwinners and all five starters from last season, including 2009 First-Team All-Southland Conference selection Whitney Cormier. The Fort Worth, Texas, native led the team, and was among the league leaders in points (12.1 pg) and rebounds (5.7 pg) last season.
"I have been fairly pleased with our pre-season practices," said head coach Lee Ann Riley, who is heading into her ninth season at the helm. "We still need to improve in certain areas, but I like the maturity we have shown so far. Our focus right now is on ourselves. We have moments where we look really good, but we have lapses that we must eliminate if we want to be successful down the road."
The Ladyjacks enter the upcoming season returning the overwhelming majority of their firepower from last season. SFA returns 96 percent of its offense, 97 percent of its rebounding and 99 percent of its shot-blocking capability from last season.
Along with the wealth of returning experience, the Ladyjacks have also added transfers Chelsea Foy (Jacksonville College) and Brittany Hardy (Incarnate Word). Foy is a sharp-shooting long-range bomber who will take some of the pressure off other perimeter players like sophomore Tammara Marion and junior Ebony Alexander. Hardy is an aggressive defender who brings added speed, and more depth to the point guard spot.
The Ladyjacks' two exhibition contests will go along way in determining the starting lineup. With the number of returning veterans there has been strong competition for each spot during preseason workouts.
"Our starting line-up is not set in stone," said Riley. "We have six to seven players that have been very consistent with their play and are definitely in the mix. At this point, I am not very concerned with who are starters are going to be, but more focused on how we finish games."
The Ladyjacks will open the regular season Saturday, Nov. 14, when they host North Texas. The game against the Mean Green is slated to tip off at 7:30 p.m., from the William R. Johnson Coliseum.
-SFA-
