GREENWOOD - The Lander women’s basketball team started last season with 10 freshmen and advanced all the way to the NCAA Tournament. With eight of those freshmen back along, with an All-American candidate in the middle, the defending Peach Belt Conference champion Lady Bearcats have set their goals high for the 2009-2010 season.
“This year the goals are obviously going to be much higher,” Lander head coach Kevin Pederson said. “No Lander women’s basketball team has ever won 20 games in three consecutive seasons, and no women’s basketball team (from any school) in the Peach Belt has ever won three straight Peach Belt Tournaments.
“Entering this year, we are going to go after those marks as well as pursuing a run at an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. With our team in place from last year, and with no seniors on the roster, this team has the talent in place to pursue these goals,” he said.
“With that said, we understand that there is a lot more involved than just talent. For us to get to where we would like, there is going to have to be hard work, sacrifice, perseverance and a little luck along the way.”
Lander’s quest begins Nov. 15 with a game at Division II power Valdosta State in southern Georgia. The home opener is Dec. 1 versus Queens and Peach Belt action begins Dec. 20 at UNC Pembroke.
Returning for the Lady Bearcats are the top 10 scorers from last year’s team, which went 20-11, won the Peach Belt Tournament, and lost to Tusculum in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
“I’ve never been in a situation like this where we have basically our whole team back from last year with just one new player,” Pederson said. “The preseason has been a challenge for us as coaches coming up with ways to keep things fresh and challenging for this young team.”
Yes, the team is still young with eight sophomores and four juniors. Last year, they were the youngest of the 64 teams in the NCAA Tournament.
“Last year, we did not know what to expect as we were so young,” Pederson said. “This year we are probably still one of the youngest teams, in the conference. For us to win the PBC tournament and make the NCAA tournament with such a young team last year, we were able to get invaluable experience. I really believe that our team was good enough to go further in the NCAA’s, but we just weren’t ready at that point.”
Lander will be led by six-foot junior center Shannon McKever (Florence, S.C.), an All-PBC performer who averaged 13.5 points and nine rebounds per game last year while shooting 54.6 percent from the field.
Also returning are sophomore guard Ciara Lyons (Augusta, Ga.), last year’s PBC Freshman of the Year, who averaged 12.2 points per game, junior All-PBC guard Tasheba Butler (Florence, S.C.) with 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, and sophomore guard Jasmine Judge (Augusta, Ga.) with 10 points per game and a team-high 87 made 3-pointers.
Providing depth up front behind McKever are sophomores Kaylyn Small (Augusta, Ga.) and Keondra Barnes (Columbus, Ga.), who averaged a combined eight points and seven rebounds per game last season with bigger numbers coming down the stretch. Junior Katie Hupp (Laurelville, Ohio) will also see some minutes in the front-court.
“We do not have as much depth as I would like in the post, but I feel very good about the four players we have,” Pederson said. “Shannon is an elite player at this level and her skill and speed make her a difficult match-up for anyone. Again this year, we cannot get caught up in shooting too many three-pointers. It needs to be a priority to work inside-out.
“Small and Barnes really came on strong last year. Together, they make up one of the best rebounding tandems in this league. In fact, together they averaged 9.6 rebounds per game over the last nine games between them in about 15 minutes per game,” the coach said.
“Katie Hupp is going to move from the wing position to post this year to help fill a hole we have. Katie gives us another look in the past that we have not had. At 5-foot-11, she can stretch the floor and shoot the ball well for her position. She has worked as hard as anyone on this team and we look for her to make a jump this year,” Pederson added.
Lander is blessed with plenty of skill, speed and depth at the wing and guard slots. While Lyons and Judge had scoring averages in double figures, four other freshmen averaged a combined 26.6 points per game.
Now returning as sophomores, Mukia Myrick (Columbus, Ga.) led the group with 8.6 points per game, followed by Nardia Robbins (York, S.C.) with 6.4 points, Brittni Johnson (Athens, Ga.) 6.2 points, and Brianna Webb (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) 5.4 points per game. Robbins and Webb also provided clutch game-winning shots in Peach Belt games against Georgia College & State University and Clayton State, respectively. Also, Johnson, Myrick and Judge had a combined 155 steals.
“Our back court is built with players that are explosive and blessed with speed,” he said. “We keep preaching to them that if they will play hard, they can take advantage of their speed and that gives us the ability to separate ourselves from some teams.”
The newcomer is East Tennessee State transfer Kami Phillips, a guard from Augusta, Ga., who is familiar with some of her new teammates and has NCAA Division I Tournament experience. She was a part-time starter at ETSU.
“It feels like she’s been with us all along,” Pederson said. “Kami played with Jasmine in high school and also grew up playing with Ciara and (Kaylyn), and we recruited her hard out of high school. At ETSU, she was a key contributor on a team that won their conference and went to the NCAA’s in both her years.
“She is going to have to adapt a little to our system, but she knows about competing and what it takes to win. Her height and passing abilities will really help us out at the point position. She is a true pass-first point guard, and we would like her to score a little more then she is used to,” the coach said.
Having so many returners is an advantage if the players aren’t improving. But Pederson feels his players are getting better.
“The offseason is where players make a jump,” he said. “Most players take time to rest and recover, but some take advantage of it and make themselves better. Ciara Lyons is definitely one that has come back in better shape. She has had a terrific preseason and really looks poised to make a jump this year.
“McKever also looks stronger and faster than she did at any point last year and we are looking for her to make a jump where she is talked about as a candidate for All-American honors. Others like Nardia and Tasheba also look to be well ahead of where they were last year,” he said.
The depth also comes in handy.
“We are fortunate to have 12 players who are talented enough to compete in this league,” he said. “On this team, we have two starting lineups that are both balanced with little drop off. We try not to rely on any one or two players, but we have 12 players who are talented and possess the physical tools needed to compete.
“I think that (depth) helps us as much as anything because we can run five in at a time and then rest the other five. Game by game, things change as you try to match up with other teams, but this team offers us a lot of flexibility in regards to how we want to play,” he added.
The Lady Bearcats finished strong last season, posting a five-game winning streak from Jan. 31 to Feb. 14, and entering the NCAA Tournament with five wins in their last six games including upsets against Francis Marion and USC Aiken in the PBC semifinals and final.
“It is important for us to cut down on the number of games we lost last year,” Pederson said. “Despite winning 20 games, we still lost 11. We have a very strong non-conference schedule and also a very strong conference, but we need to focus on not losing consecutive games while putting together winning streaks.”
The Lady Bearcats relied on what was one of the top scoring teams in Division II last year when they averaged 87.2 points per game, totaling 100 or more points seven times. But they allowed 78.7 points per contest.
