Women's Basketball Officially Begins Season
10/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 17, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The women's basketball team officially began its preparation for the 2008-09 season Friday with a two-hour session. Less than three weeks from today, the Crimson Tide will play its first regular-season game under new head coach Wendell Hudson when it takes on Centenary College Nov. 14 at Coleman Coliseum.
"We had a really good practice today," said Hudson. "Our team is really working hard and understands we have to be tough on both ends of the court. I was very pleased with what I saw."
Alabama returns four of its five starters in senior Camilla Blands, junior Dedrea Magee and sophomores Katie Hancock and Tierney Jenkins and an additional six letterwinners from last year's squad. The Tide also welcomes four newcomers to complete the 2008-09 roster.
The Alabama front court is highlighted by Jenkins who led Alabama in points per match averaging 11.8 a contest and topped the Tide in steals posting 53 on the season. Another force up front for Alabama is junior Courtney Strauthers. Strauthers is one of four players to have appeared in all 30 games last season where she shot 56.8 percent and averaged 5.6 points per outing. Sophomore Caitlin Hollifield rounds out the returners inside. She averaged just over 24 minutes of play in her 21 games where she pulled down 4.4 rebounds and put up 5.2 points. Joining the three veterans are freshmen Carmen McCoy and Kayla Robinson.
The plentiful Tide backcourt is led by Magee who was the only Alabama player to start in each of the 30 games. She led the team in minutes averaging 35.0 per appearance, three-point field goal percentage at .400 and assists with 98 total. Blands, the lone senior on this year's team, started in 22 of the 27 games she played in last year. She was the Tide's best option on the charity stripe hitting 69.4 percent from the line. In addition, Blands returns as Alabama best blocker having swatted away 23 shots. Hancock started in all 11 contests she appeared in after missing the first 19 games to ACL surgery. She averaged six points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Her best performance came on March 6 against Georgia when the sophomore poured in 14 points shooting 5-for-9 from the floor. Before suffering a season-ending knee injury, sophomore Daleisha Carn started in eight of 11 matchups for Alabama. She led the team in scoring twice and blocking three times in her 11 appearances. Carn averaged 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. The Tide returns three other guards in junior Tamara Williams and sophomores Varisia Raffington and Alyson Butler. Williams played in all 30 contests where she averaged 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds, while Raffington netted 3.7 points on average and roped in 17 assists and 11 steals on the season. Butler returns to the court after sitting out last season with a medical redshirt. Ericka Russell and Candace Sykes are the two newcomers to the Tide's lengthy list of guards.
"This is one of the most exciting times of the year from the coaching standpoint," added Hudson. "We've been working on the individual pieces, and now it's time to put the puzzle together."
Alabama continues its groundwork for the upcoming season Saturday at 8:00 a.m. (CST).
