THE BLUE BANNER I WEDNESDAY. NOV. 5, 2014 I THEBLUEBANNER.NET
8
men’s basketball adds new players, gears u^or season
JOHN ARMSTRONG
jarmstrl @unca.edu -
$taff Writer
Women’s basketball
team members said they
hold high hopes for the
season ahead.
After finishing eighth
overall in the Big South
Conference tournament
last year, the UNC Ashe
ville women’s basketball
team looks forward to ad
vancing further in the con
ference tournament this
season, according to team
members.
The women’s team sur
prised the conference in
the first round of the tour
nament last year with their
43-42 win over Radford,
but fell to High Point in the
quarter finals 69-79.
The win over Radford
gave the Bulldogs a record
of 11 wins overall, shatter
ing the amount they held in
previous seasons.
“1 think that this season is
going to be by far the best
season that 1 have been a
part of at UNC Asheville,”
said Jeannie Buckner,
a senior on the team.
“We’ve really changed our
culture and having a lot
more competitive practices
and the expectation level is
there for ourselves and the
outside community.”
In her third season as
head coach of the women’s
basketball team, Brenda
Mock Kirkpatrick said
she hopes to see her squad
show an increase in consis
tent success to maximize
their potential.
“The seniors have
brought great leadership
and there are 11 people re
turning on the squad this
year. We didn’t have any
seniors to play last season,
and I don’t think we were
ready for last year because
we had so many ques
tions,” Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick and Buckner
said the East Tennessee
State University squad will
be their toughest opponent.
This matchup will reflect
on the Bulldogs’ perfor
mance throughout the sea
son.
“We are looking forward
to our exhibition game
obviously, and we open
up with ETSU. That’s the
game we’re looking for
ward to the most to get off
to a good start at home,”
Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick said High
Point is a team that gives
them a hard time, and a
rivalry exists between the
two teams.
“In conference, we defi
nitely want to beat High
Point this year, because
that’s one of the teams that
we have played really well
against, but could not pull
off a win. Last year they
knocked us out of the tour
nament. They’ll have an
‘X’ on their back,” Buck
ner said.
Liberty University is the
top team in the conference.
Kirkpatrick said Liberty is
picked to win the confer
ence almost every year.
“It’s hard to pick one
through 11 though because
our conference is so com
petitive,” Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick said a lot
of the teams have most of
their squads returning, but
they also remain hard at
work picking up new re
cruits.
“We have had other
teams in the same boat as
we are — and are starting to
move their way up the lad
der,” Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick said she
looks forward to playing
the conference games not
only because of the compe-
tiveness, but also because
of its size.
“Our conference is great
because we get to play ev
eryone twice, home and
away,” Kirkpatrick said.
Lloyd Brookshire is
currently heading into his
third year as student man
ager for the team.
Brookshire said during
the 2012-13 season the
team struggled with in
juries, only tallying two
wins.
“During the 2012-2013
season, we lost Shonese
Jones, Brittany Gwyn, Ta-
cey Trammell and Leah
Wormack all to season-end
ing injures, with the first
three being all ACL tears,
forcing other freshmen to
step into a premiere role,”
Brookshire said.
The 2012-13 season was
also Kirkpatrick’s first sea
son as head coach for the
women’s basketball team.
“Any time you have a
coaching shift, there’s go
ing to be a transition peri
od, but I think we should
start to see the result of that
transition in its full effect
this year,” Buckner said.
Buckner, along with the
four players who are re
turning from last season’s
injuries, make up the five
seniors this season.
Kirkpatrick said Jones
will be the one the team re
lies on most when it comes
to scoring, Gwyn a key
point guard, Buckner for
her growth and urgency,
Wormack as a great mo
tivator on the sideline as
well as a great player on
the court and Trammell,
the best shooter.
SEE WOMEN’S ON PAGE 10
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