Stephen F. Austin Women's Basketball Season Outlook

FB: 09/02/10 Elizabeth City State vs. Central Arkansas 7 p.m.

FB: 09/02/10 Southeastern Louisiana at Tulane 7 p.m.

VB: 09/02/10 Southeastern Louisiana at South Alabama 7 p.m.

XC: 09/02/10 at TBA

VB: 09/03/10 Alabama A&M at Southeastern Louisiana 10 a.m.

VB: 09/03/10 LSU at Central Arkansas 11 a.m.

VB: 09/03/10 UC Davis at Texas State 11 a.m.

VB: 09/03/10 Arkansas-Little Rock vs. UT Arlington 1 p.m.

WSOC: 09/03/10 Jackson State vs. Nicholls 3 p.m.

VB: 09/03/10 Tennessee Tech at Northwestern State 3 p.m.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Stephen F. Austin Women's Basketball Season Outlook

Courtesy: Southland.org

Release: 11/04/2009

Share |

Stephen F. Austin Preview

Stephen F. Austin senior guard Whitney Cormier led the Ladyjacks averaging 12.1 points and 5.7 rebounds on her way to first-team all-conference honors last season.

Courtesy: Southland.org
http://www.southland.org
Stephen F. Austin senior guard Whitney Cormier led the Ladyjacks averaging 12.1 points and 5.7 rebounds on her way to first-team all-conference honors last season.

After entering the Southland Conference tournament as the fifth seed in consecutive seasons, the Ladyjacks enter 2009-10 with added excitement. The majority of that excitement surrounds head coach Lee Ann Riley's veteran squad.

Stephen F. Austin returns all but one letterwinner, guard Jessica Gaines, and all five starters, from last year's 15-14 (.517) season. The Ladyjacks roster, which has been one of the youngest in the conference over the past two seasons, has now become one of the more veteran lineups in the league.

The Ladyjacks enter the upcoming season returning the overwhelming majority of its 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 year's squad.

Coach Riley, who is entering her ninth season at the helm, will once again look to senior Whitney Cormier to set the tone offensively. The 5-9, guard really came into her own down the stretch averaging 15.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game during conference action. She led the Ladyjacks averaging 12.1 points and 5.7 rebounds on her way to first-team all-conference honors last season.

Sophomore Tammara Marion appeared to be well on her way to making a push for conference freshman of the year honors before an injury midway through the season slowed her down, but that did not diminish what she was able to accomplish. The sharp-shooting guard finished second on the team averaging 9.3 points per game, and led the team from three-point land connecting on 42-of-110 (.382) attempts.

The Ladyjacks will also look for junior forward Jordan Ford to return to the form that made her one of the league's top young players during the 2007-08 season when she averaged 9.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Ford struggled early during her sophomore campaign, but really started to come around down the stretch. Ford finished the season averaging 7.4 points per game.

The Ladyjacks will face another tough slate in 2009-10, which will include contests against the Big 10, Big 12, Conference USA and Western Athletic Conference. SFA opens the season Nov. 14 against North Texas in Nacogdoches, before Rice comes to town the following week. SFA non-conference schedule will consist of dates against Michigan, Texas A&M, Tulane, Louisiana Tech and Tulsa before they open a tough Southland Conference slate against Sam Houston State Saturday, Jan. 9.