GREENWOOD - There are many reasons to be optimistic about the 2010-11 Lander women's basketball team. The Lady Bearcats return all 12 players from a squad that went 27-4 last season and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. They are ranked No. 8 in the Division II preseason poll. And they are full of talent, experience and depth.
The expectations are enough to make some coaches cringe. Teams have been known to crumble under such high expectations.
But Lander and head coach Kevin Pederson welcome the challenge.
"We've always put high expectations on ourselves," says Pederson, whose team is seeking its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. "We have never made any bones about it. We want to be ranked highly in any poll because that means people have a very high opinion of our program. Part of growing up is learning how to shoulder expectations and I think every member of this team is looking forward to that challenge."
Lander opens its season Nov. 13 with a Top 10 showdown at home against No. 3 Tusculum, a rematch of the NCAA Sweet 16 game held at Finis Horne Arena back in March.
The 2009-2010 team was the best in school history. The Lady Bearcats set school records in overall wins (27), consecutive victories (14), NCAA Tournament wins (two) and highest national ranking (seventh). Lander won the Peach Belt Conference regular season championship with a 17-1 record and hosted an NCAA regional for the first time.
And the entire team is back to make hopefully another NCAA Tournament run in 2010-2011.
Returning are senior Honorable Mention All-American center Shannon McKever (Florence, S.C.), senior forwards Tasheba Butler (Florence, S.C.) and Katie Hupp (Laurelville, Ohio) and senior guard Kami Phillips (Augusta, Ga.), junior guards Brittni Johnson (Athens, Ga.), Brianna Webb (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), Ciara Lyons (Augusta, Ga.), Nardia Robbins (York, S.C.), Jasmine Judge (Augusta, Ga.) and Mukia Myrick (Columbus, Ga.), and junior post players Kaylyn Small (Augusta, Ga.) and Keondra Barnes (Columbus, Ga.).
There are also three newcomers who will add even more depth while helping build the program toward the future. They are North Florida transfer junior forward Rachelle Rasley (Richmond, Va.), and freshmen Shay Andrews (Greenwood, S.C.) and Chentieh Ladson (Charleston, S.C.).
"It's the first time in my entire career as a coach where every player from last year's roster is back," says Pederson, who is entering his 10th season as a head coach and his sixth at Lander.
"We didn't have a player who graduated. We didn't have a player who left. Jasmine Judge, Mukia Myrick, Ciara Lyons, Brittni Johnson and Nardia Robbins are all juniors who have played huge minutes (in their Lander careers). (Seniors) Shannon McKever and Tasheba Butler have started almost every game for four years.
"Kami Phillips played a significant role last year before she got hurt, and then Brianna Webb picked up her spot and had some big games for us. Kaylyn Small and Keondra Barnes have been a huge presence (off the bench) for us both their freshman and sophomore years. Rachelle Rasley played 20 minutes per game at Division I North Florida last year. The depth and experience is unlike any team that I've ever had before."
The starting five figures to be double-double machine McKever (14.4 points, 9.3 rebounds per game, 92 blocked shots) at center, Butler (9.3 points, 6.4 rebounds) at forward, and Lyons (11.1 points, 3.6 assists), Johnson (9.3 points, 3.8 assists, 71 steals) and Judge (8.7 points) at guards. Myrick (8.3 points) is pushing to get into the starting lineup.
But with a "two-team" system, the second five players will see just about as much playing time as the starting unit.
"I always say we have 10 starters," Pederson says. "We have 10 kids who are going to play significant minutes every game. There is quite a battle going on for the second team. We have 10 kids good enough to be on that second team."
McKever and Butler don't often get worn down in the post because Small and Barnes are effective off the bench. Myrick, Webb, Robbins and Phillips keep the guards fresh and able to run and pressure the ball. Hupp also steps in from time to time at forward and is among the team leaders. And now there are three newcomers in the mix.
Rasley, a 5-foot-11 wing or post, "is an excellent outside shooter with great range," Pederson says. "She can defend from either position. We are hoping she is a player who can hit 40 or 50 3-pointers this year to take some of the pressure off Jasmine Judge."
Ladson is a 5-10 wing-forward whom Pederson believes has great potential.
"Chentieh was the top senior in Charleston last year and a top 10 player in the State of South Carolina. She is a phenomenal player," Pederson says. "Chentieh fits our system as well as anyone we've recruited since we came to Lander. She is extremely athletic. She is the best rebounding guard we saw throughout the recruiting process. She's good enough to compete for a starting position on this team as a true freshman. She is that good. But she has a lot to learn.
"She is a player when all is said and done we'll be talking about her as one of the better players in the Peach Belt Conference when she is ready to take that step. She's not ready just yet. But at some point, whether it be this year or next year, she will turn a lot of heads. She's got the potential to be an incredible four-year player here."
Andrews is the second Greenwood High School basketball player to join a college roster in the last seven years, the other being the women's Division II all-time leading scorer LaShonda Chiles who played for Pederson at both Anderson University and Lander.
"We are real proud to keep another local kid in town," Pederson says. "There are a lot of kids in front of her. So whether she gets in the mix this year remains to be seen. But she has been well prepared for college and over four years, she should be a great player in this program."
Lander's schedule is perhaps its toughest in program history. The Lady Bearcats open with exhibition games at the University of South Carolina Nov. 5 and at the University of Georgia Nov. 10. Although the scores won't count in the won-loss record, the experience of playing against Southeastern Conference schools will last a lifetime.
"We are playing two SEC opponents who are going to be extremely talented and deep," Pederson says of USC and Georgia. "Those two games are not about winning and losing. I want our players to play in a great environment and get that experience so 20 years from now they can say we played (Georgia coach) Andy Landers, one of the best coaches in women's basketball history, and at South Carolina against Dawn Staley, who is another powerful figure in women's basketball. If we go to those places and we keep (the scores) respectable, that's a bonus. We would like for both schools to feel that we gave them a good look and that both sides could take something positive away from the game."
The non-conference schedule is loaded with NCAA Tournament teams from last year, starting with home games against Tusculum and Carson-Newman at home during the opening weekend Nov. 13-14. Lander will also play Carson-Newman a second time, on the road, early in the season while also meeting NCAA Tournament teams Newberry and Lenoir-Rhyne.
The Lady Bearcats will also have a road game at Division I Winthrop, meet both Shaw University and the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., and face Lenoir-Rhyne and Lincoln Memorial in Morrow, Ga., all in December.
The Tusculum season-opener is a marquee matchup with both teams returning just about everybody from last season. Tusculum returns dynamic 4-foot-11 guard Jasmine Gunn, now a senior, who was recently named the preseason Division II National Player of the Year. The Pioneers also return 6-foot-8 Catherine Hintz and several other starters.
"We have a monstrous non-conference schedule," Pederson says. "And when we are done with that, our reward is to play Francis Marion, Georgia College & State, Clayton State, Columbus and everybody else from our Peach Belt Conference. There are no weak teams on our schedule."
Winning the Peach Belt regular season and tournament championships are always the first major goals for the team. The Peach Belt opener is Nov. 23 at home versus UNC Pembroke. Last year, Lander lost only once in the PBC regular season before dropping an overtime heart-breaker to Clayton State in the Peach Belt Tournament semifinals.
"The question is, 'can we improve?'" in the Peach Belt, Pederson asks. "It's hard to improve on 17-1. But we almost lost at Flagler last year, we almost lost at Augusta, we almost lost at Montevallo. I'm glad we could win a lot of close games. But at the same time, can we improve in those road games?
We are good enough to win the league. But whether we do or not depends on whether we can stay healthy, can we keep working hard, and can we stay humble? If we do those things, I like our odds."
If Lander qualifies for the NCAA Tournament, the next goal is to advance further. And the only way to accomplish that goal is to at least reach the Elite Eight.
"We were so close to making the Elite Eight last season. And in Division II, the Elite Eight is like making the Final Four in Division I," Pederson says. "We really want to put Lander into the elite group of women's basketball programs in the country, and no matter how many games you win, you're not in that group unless you get to the Elite Eight."
The Lady Bearcats had that opportunity to reach the Elite Eight back in March when they hosted Tusculum in the South Atlantic Regional championship game. Lander raced to a 24-8 lead in front of a raucous home crowd. But Tusculum had cut it to three by halftime and broke a tie over the last five minutes.
"On that night, Jasmine Gunn was the best player on the floor (scoring 30 points)," Pederson says. "Tusculum had a good team. But I thought that one player (Gunn) made that good team into a spectacular team. That's the challenge for our team. No one on our team had an above average game and our three starting guards combined for a total of nine points. We talk a lot with our best players about needing their best games in the biggest games. You can have off nights against weaker teams because we are probably strong enough to overcome that.
"But the best players have to rise to the occasion and I think that's what we learned from that loss. We got up on Tusculum by 16 in the first half, and they (Tusculum) just kept chipping away. We didn't have that one player rise to the occasion and score the next six to eight points and carry us on their backs. I don't think you make the Elite Eight without having one or two players have a remarkable game."
Pederson says that with 12 returning players this year and potentially 11 back next season, including nine who are to be seniors in 2012, the window of opportunity is open for Lander to "do something special."
"These next two years we need to do something special because you don't just get this kind of talent, this good chemistry, and this good a group of kids very often," says Pederson, who relies heavily on Assistant Coach Russ Gregg and graduate assistant Coach Alex Smith. "Everybody gets along well and we've been able to grow as a team. That's what is great about building a team with high school players. Three kids (McKever, Butler and Hupp) are going into their fourth years here and nine are going into their third year. It's a fun group to be around."
In the last three years, Lander has won 20 or more games each season, has two Peach Belt Tournament championships, two PBC regular season titles, and three NCAA Tournament wins.
"We have done great things the last three years. Our seniors have won either the PBC Tournament or regular season title every year. I'd like for this program to step forward and get them number four," Pederson says. "There has been a lot of work to get to this point in the program, and there is still a lot more left to be done."
-- By DAVID HAYS
