By: by Jason Hanes
KENNESAW, Ga. - A new season will dawn for the Kennesaw State women's basketball team Friday at Noon in Miami, Fla., as the Lady Owls take on Miami. KSU's opening contest will be one of four against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents in the upcoming season.
"Practice has been going really well for us," said KSU head coach Colby Tilley as he prepares to lead the Lady Owls for his 16th season. "The players seem to be getting along really well and are enjoying each other's company. Our newcomers have come in and are working really hard to try to pick up the things we want to do on the court. I think this is going to be a season where we really surprise a lot of people."
The Lady Owls return six players that saw action in 2009-10, yet none of the players that will step on the court for KSU will be seniors. The Lady Owls have 11 players on the roster that are either a sophomore or a freshman.
Returning from last year's squad are a pair of 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference All-Freshman Team honorees. Sametria Gideon, who also earned 2010-11 A-Sun Preseason Team honors, returns as the team's second-leading scorer in A-Sun play last season. Brandi Jones returns for her sophomore season with the distinction as being the only freshman to earn an A-Sun Player of the Week award last season.
While KSU went 1-1 in exhibition games before the start of the upcoming season, several of the newcomers had excellent beginnings on the court for the Lady Owls. Chelcey Farrar had 14 points in KSU's exhibition game against USC Aiken. In that same game, freshman Taylor Mills scored 12 points and dished out eight assists.
Returning players also had good games for the Lady Owls in the exhibition portion of the campaign. Sophomore Ashley Holliday had 14 points and five steals against Emmanuel Nov. 1. Three of Holliday's teammates also reached double-figures in scoring that game as Jones, Gideon, and Lisa Capellan each had 10 points. Junior Tamasha Bolden grabbed 10 rebounds in the win over Emmanuel as well.
Against Miami, the Lady Owls will be facing a team that reached the finals of the WNIT last season. The Hurricanes went 22-10 last season and are picked to finish 10th in the ACC this year. Shenise Johnson and Riquna Williams return in the backcourt for the Hurricanes. Last year, the duo combined for 39.6 points and connected for a combined 137 3-pointers.
Sunday at 2 p.m., the Lady Owls will wrap up their trip to south Florida with a contest at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton. FAU is coached by Chancellor Dugan, who will be starting her 12th season with the Owls program. Dugan has been with the team since FAU was in the Trans America Athletic Conference, which would later become the Atlantic Sun Conference. Five players return from the 2009-10 squad, with nine newcomers taking the court for FAU this season.
After Sunday's contest, the Lady Owls will return to Georgia to face metro Atlanta rival Georgia Tech Nov. 17 at 5 p.m.
