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WBI Tip Off - Women ScheduleFri., Nov. 91 pm, Stetson v. Hofstra
3:30 pm, Texas v. St. John’s
Sat., Nov. 10
2 pm, Hofstra v. Texas
Sun., Nov. 11
1 pm, St. John’s v. UCF
Horns will get a tough test to start off the season as they open up against the St. John’s Red Storm (AP# 14; ESPN# 13) in second game of the WBI Tip Off Classic at Daytona Beach, FL. Game time is 2:30 PM CST on Nov. 9th. Game two is against Hofstra on Nov. 10, at 1:00 PM. Both St. John’s and Texas will have new head coaches as Joe Tartamella takes over at St. John’s after nine years at St. John’s with the past four seasons as the associate head coach. Karen Aston was named the head coach at Texas this past April after head coaching stints at North Texas and University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In contrast, Hofstra’s Krista Kilburn-Steveskey will be entering her seventh season as the Pride’s head coach.
Hofstra will be seeking their second straight win over St. John’s, taking a 93-82 win last November. This will be the second meeting between St. John’s and Texas with the Horns holding a 1-0 record entering this game (75-41 Texas on Jan. 13, 1978). It will be the first meeting between the Pride and the Longhorns.
The St. John’s Red Storm
St. John’s WBB site
The St. John’s Red Storm returns five of six players who started at least 21 games of out 34 last season: three guards and two forwards. They are three seniors, one RS junior and one soph. Shenneika Smith (# 35, 6-1 Sr. G), Nadirah McKenith (# 5, 5-7 Sr. G) and Eugeneia McPherson (# 22, 5-8 Sr. G), Mary Nwachukwu (#24, 6-2 RS Jr. F) and Amber Thompson (# 2, 6-2 Soph. F) can all be considered returning starters. Keylantra Langley (# 20, 5-9 Jr. G) is the only other player coming back that averaged in double digit minutes last season. Others coming off the bench were Briana Brown (# 12, 5-8 Jr. G), Jennifer Blanding (# 15, 6-3 Sr. C) and Mallory Jones (# 32-, 6-0 Soph. F). Newcomers number four: Cedrica Gibson (# 1, 5-7 Fr. G), Aliyyah Handford (# 3, 5-9 Fr. G), Ashley Perez (# 11, 5-9 Fr. G) and Sandra Udobi (# 33, 6-2 Fr. F).
Smith, McKenith and McPherson were the top three leading scorers for St. John’s last season. McPherson was the Red Storm’s top 3pt threat last season, making 31.1% of her treys. She took just over twice as many as Smith & McKenith who ranked fourth and second in number of 3s taken last season. They didn’t shoot many threes, averaging 7.9 treys a game last season. Compare to Texas who averaged 14.8 threes last season. In addition, St. John’s returns their number 1, 3 and 4 rebounders from last season—respectively, Smith, Thompson and McKenith.
Smith and McKenith are both Preseason All Big East Team. Smith was named to the All Big East first team last season while McKenith was named to the second team. Thompson was named a member of the All Big East Freshmen team.
Frosh G Perez led St. John’s with 22 pts off the bench in the Red Storm’s exhibition win over Farmingdale State this past Sunday. Two projected starters, guard Nadirah McKenith and forward Mary Nwachukwu, did not play in the exhibition.
Coach Tartamella on what to expect from St. John’s this season as he moves into the headcoach’s seat: On his style of play and coaching:
"Our style of play will never change. We've been successful for a reason and that's because we have players who can play an up-tempo game on both sides of the court. We want to make sure we're playing an exciting style for our players and fans as well as something that is conducive to what we see every day in the BIG EAST conference. There may be some different tweaks in there but as far as our style of play goes - it won't change." [from Big East Media Days]Projected starters:
Shenneika Smith, 6-1 Sr. G
Nadirah McKenith, 5-7 Sr. G
Eugeneia McPherson, 5-8 Sr. G
Mary Nwachukwu, 6-2 RS Jr. F
Amber Thompson, 6-2 Soph. F
McKenith and Nwachukwu did not play in St. John’s exhibition game this past Sunday with Briana Brown and Keylantra Langley started as St. John’s went with a four guard starting lineup. No news as to why McKenith and Nwachukwu did not play nor whether they will be available for this weekend’s games. If those two are unavailable, the Red Storm have experienced guards to overcome the loss of McKenith, not to mention outstanding freshman guard Perez, but the loss of Mwachukwu really hurts their frontcourt depth.
The Hofstra Pride
Hofstra WBB site
The Hofstra Pride (Colonial Athletic Association) return two starters from last season: Shante Evans (# 30, 6-0 Sr. F) and Candace Bond (# 2, 5-10 Sr. G/F). Both started all 31 games that Hofstra played last season. Andreana Thomas (# 5, 5-4 Soph. G) is the only other returning player that averaged in double digit minutes (20.2 mpg). Deven Green (# 23, 5-11 Sr. F) and Anma Onyeuku (# 40, 5-10 Jr. F) played in 29 and 28 games, respectively, averaging about 9 and 7 mpg. Annie Payton (# 32, 5-9 Jr. G/F) and Onyesonam Nolisa (# 21, 5-11 Soph. G/F) are the other players that played some last season. Newcomers include: Asia Jackson (# 1, 5-5 Fr. G), Sydni Epps (# 3, 5-11 Fr. G), Ruth Sherrill (# 4, 6-0 Fr. F), Alexis Carter (# 12, 5-8 Fr. G), Dee Thomas-Palmer (# 24, 6-0 Fr. F) and McKenzie Kudron (# 34, 6-3 Jr. F/C). Kudron is a transfer from Vermont and the tallest player on the roster with Evans, Sherrill and Thomas-Palmer the next tallest at 6-0.
Evans was the leading scorer for the Pride last season. But the team lost 3 of their top 4 scorers. Among those were their top two 3pt threats who were 129 of 406. Hofstra was 155-535 from BTA last season. Bond (9-38) and Thomas (8-41) are the top returning 3pt shooters. Their top two rebounders return in Smith and Bond. Smith averaged a double double last season. Bond led Hofstra with 84 steals last season (2.7 spg).
Evans, a two time All CAA first team selection and two time honorable mention All American, was named to the preseason All CAA first team. Bond was a preseason All CAA honorable mention. Hofstra was selected to finish third in the league’s preseason poll.
Projected starters:
Andreana Thomas, 5-4 Soph. G
Asia Jackson, 5-5 Fr. G
Candace Bond, 5-10 Sr. G/F
Shante Evans, 6-0 Sr. F
Anma Onyeuku, 5-10 Jr. G
The Pride will be the shortest team of the two that the Longhorns face this weekend with Vermont transfer 6-3 McKenzie Kudron the tallest player at 6-3. No other player is taller than 6-0 and two of those are freshmen.
The Texas Longhorns
Texas WBB site
Horns return five players that started games last season, led by Chassidy (31 starts in 32 games played). Cokie played in 29 games and started 20. Anne Marie (10 starts out of 30 games played in), Nneka (6 starts in 32 games played) and Chelsea (2 starts in 25 games played) are the other players that got to start. Other players with experience are Kayla (played in 18 games) and Ronisha (played in 20 games). These seven include two guards (Chassidy & Chelsea), four posts (Cokie, Anne Marie, Nneka and Kayla) with Ronisha able to play on the perimeter or inside. They are joined by seven newcomers: two Junior College transfers (Ashley & Gigi); three freshmen (Empress, Imani, and Celina), one redshirt frosh (Brady) and one Sr. who completed her softball eligibility and is using her fifth year to play basketball (Nadia). Those fourteen players are split into seven guards and seven posts/forwards with at least two ofthe forwards (Gigi & Ronisha) able to play inside and on the perimeter. Only 11 players were suited up for the exhibition game last Tuesday with Chelsea, Kayla, and Ronisha all nursing various injuries.
All five players that started at least two games last season averaged double digit minutes ranging from 17 mpg to 34 (Chassidy). Chassidy was also the leading scorer last season. Chassidy is the leading 3pt shooter returning from last season, making 37.8% of her treys. She also made and took twice as many 3s as any other player last season. She made 90.4% of her FTs, leading the team in that category. Chelsea hit 34.2% from BTA and 73.9% from the FT line as she ranks second among returning players in those two categories. Horns lost their top rebounder but return four players that averaged between 5 and 4.3 rpg: Nneka, Cokie, Anne Marie and Chassidy. And add 6-7 Imani to help bolster the rebounding.
While Chassidy is likely to be the focus of the offense, the posts should be a bigger part for the offense. It should be safe to say that Texas will play an uptempo game with presses coming often. The rotation should allow for substitutions to be made often. The one exception might be Chassidy in a tight game. PG at this time is still a work in progress although Celina and Ashley seem to be the primary options there with Empress as a possible third option.
Projected starters:
Nneka
Cokie
Empress
Celina
Chassidy
It will be interesting to see if the three players held out for the exhibition due to injuries will be cleared to play as they will add experience to both the backcourt and frontcourt.
No luck in finding the game televised or online. Only other chance might be CBSSports.com online but I haven’t signed up for it so can’t get to their schedule. Guess it’s KVET’s 1300 AM radio with Jon Madani (pxp) and Amie Smith Bradley (analyst). Yea, Amie!
texassports.com WBI Tip Off Classic preview
Hofstra.com WBI Tip Off Classic preview
3:30 pm, Texas v. St. John’s
Sat., Nov. 10
2 pm, Hofstra v. Texas
Sun., Nov. 11
1 pm, St. John’s v. UCF
Horns will get a tough test to start off the season as they open up against the St. John’s Red Storm (AP# 14; ESPN# 13) in second game of the WBI Tip Off Classic at Daytona Beach, FL. Game time is 2:30 PM CST on Nov. 9th. Game two is against Hofstra on Nov. 10, at 1:00 PM. Both St. John’s and Texas will have new head coaches as Joe Tartamella takes over at St. John’s after nine years at St. John’s with the past four seasons as the associate head coach. Karen Aston was named the head coach at Texas this past April after head coaching stints at North Texas and University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In contrast, Hofstra’s Krista Kilburn-Steveskey will be entering her seventh season as the Pride’s head coach.
Hofstra will be seeking their second straight win over St. John’s, taking a 93-82 win last November. This will be the second meeting between St. John’s and Texas with the Horns holding a 1-0 record entering this game (75-41 Texas on Jan. 13, 1978). It will be the first meeting between the Pride and the Longhorns.
The St. John’s Red Storm
St. John’s WBB site
The St. John’s Red Storm returns five of six players who started at least 21 games of out 34 last season: three guards and two forwards. They are three seniors, one RS junior and one soph. Shenneika Smith (# 35, 6-1 Sr. G), Nadirah McKenith (# 5, 5-7 Sr. G) and Eugeneia McPherson (# 22, 5-8 Sr. G), Mary Nwachukwu (#24, 6-2 RS Jr. F) and Amber Thompson (# 2, 6-2 Soph. F) can all be considered returning starters. Keylantra Langley (# 20, 5-9 Jr. G) is the only other player coming back that averaged in double digit minutes last season. Others coming off the bench were Briana Brown (# 12, 5-8 Jr. G), Jennifer Blanding (# 15, 6-3 Sr. C) and Mallory Jones (# 32-, 6-0 Soph. F). Newcomers number four: Cedrica Gibson (# 1, 5-7 Fr. G), Aliyyah Handford (# 3, 5-9 Fr. G), Ashley Perez (# 11, 5-9 Fr. G) and Sandra Udobi (# 33, 6-2 Fr. F).
Smith, McKenith and McPherson were the top three leading scorers for St. John’s last season. McPherson was the Red Storm’s top 3pt threat last season, making 31.1% of her treys. She took just over twice as many as Smith & McKenith who ranked fourth and second in number of 3s taken last season. They didn’t shoot many threes, averaging 7.9 treys a game last season. Compare to Texas who averaged 14.8 threes last season. In addition, St. John’s returns their number 1, 3 and 4 rebounders from last season—respectively, Smith, Thompson and McKenith.
Smith and McKenith are both Preseason All Big East Team. Smith was named to the All Big East first team last season while McKenith was named to the second team. Thompson was named a member of the All Big East Freshmen team.
Frosh G Perez led St. John’s with 22 pts off the bench in the Red Storm’s exhibition win over Farmingdale State this past Sunday. Two projected starters, guard Nadirah McKenith and forward Mary Nwachukwu, did not play in the exhibition.
Coach Tartamella on what to expect from St. John’s this season as he moves into the headcoach’s seat: On his style of play and coaching:
"Our style of play will never change. We've been successful for a reason and that's because we have players who can play an up-tempo game on both sides of the court. We want to make sure we're playing an exciting style for our players and fans as well as something that is conducive to what we see every day in the BIG EAST conference. There may be some different tweaks in there but as far as our style of play goes - it won't change." [from Big East Media Days]Projected starters:
Shenneika Smith, 6-1 Sr. G
Nadirah McKenith, 5-7 Sr. G
Eugeneia McPherson, 5-8 Sr. G
Mary Nwachukwu, 6-2 RS Jr. F
Amber Thompson, 6-2 Soph. F
McKenith and Nwachukwu did not play in St. John’s exhibition game this past Sunday with Briana Brown and Keylantra Langley started as St. John’s went with a four guard starting lineup. No news as to why McKenith and Nwachukwu did not play nor whether they will be available for this weekend’s games. If those two are unavailable, the Red Storm have experienced guards to overcome the loss of McKenith, not to mention outstanding freshman guard Perez, but the loss of Mwachukwu really hurts their frontcourt depth.
The Hofstra Pride
Hofstra WBB site
The Hofstra Pride (Colonial Athletic Association) return two starters from last season: Shante Evans (# 30, 6-0 Sr. F) and Candace Bond (# 2, 5-10 Sr. G/F). Both started all 31 games that Hofstra played last season. Andreana Thomas (# 5, 5-4 Soph. G) is the only other returning player that averaged in double digit minutes (20.2 mpg). Deven Green (# 23, 5-11 Sr. F) and Anma Onyeuku (# 40, 5-10 Jr. F) played in 29 and 28 games, respectively, averaging about 9 and 7 mpg. Annie Payton (# 32, 5-9 Jr. G/F) and Onyesonam Nolisa (# 21, 5-11 Soph. G/F) are the other players that played some last season. Newcomers include: Asia Jackson (# 1, 5-5 Fr. G), Sydni Epps (# 3, 5-11 Fr. G), Ruth Sherrill (# 4, 6-0 Fr. F), Alexis Carter (# 12, 5-8 Fr. G), Dee Thomas-Palmer (# 24, 6-0 Fr. F) and McKenzie Kudron (# 34, 6-3 Jr. F/C). Kudron is a transfer from Vermont and the tallest player on the roster with Evans, Sherrill and Thomas-Palmer the next tallest at 6-0.
Evans was the leading scorer for the Pride last season. But the team lost 3 of their top 4 scorers. Among those were their top two 3pt threats who were 129 of 406. Hofstra was 155-535 from BTA last season. Bond (9-38) and Thomas (8-41) are the top returning 3pt shooters. Their top two rebounders return in Smith and Bond. Smith averaged a double double last season. Bond led Hofstra with 84 steals last season (2.7 spg).
Evans, a two time All CAA first team selection and two time honorable mention All American, was named to the preseason All CAA first team. Bond was a preseason All CAA honorable mention. Hofstra was selected to finish third in the league’s preseason poll.
Projected starters:
Andreana Thomas, 5-4 Soph. G
Asia Jackson, 5-5 Fr. G
Candace Bond, 5-10 Sr. G/F
Shante Evans, 6-0 Sr. F
Anma Onyeuku, 5-10 Jr. G
The Pride will be the shortest team of the two that the Longhorns face this weekend with Vermont transfer 6-3 McKenzie Kudron the tallest player at 6-3. No other player is taller than 6-0 and two of those are freshmen.
The Texas Longhorns
Texas WBB site
Horns return five players that started games last season, led by Chassidy (31 starts in 32 games played). Cokie played in 29 games and started 20. Anne Marie (10 starts out of 30 games played in), Nneka (6 starts in 32 games played) and Chelsea (2 starts in 25 games played) are the other players that got to start. Other players with experience are Kayla (played in 18 games) and Ronisha (played in 20 games). These seven include two guards (Chassidy & Chelsea), four posts (Cokie, Anne Marie, Nneka and Kayla) with Ronisha able to play on the perimeter or inside. They are joined by seven newcomers: two Junior College transfers (Ashley & Gigi); three freshmen (Empress, Imani, and Celina), one redshirt frosh (Brady) and one Sr. who completed her softball eligibility and is using her fifth year to play basketball (Nadia). Those fourteen players are split into seven guards and seven posts/forwards with at least two ofthe forwards (Gigi & Ronisha) able to play inside and on the perimeter. Only 11 players were suited up for the exhibition game last Tuesday with Chelsea, Kayla, and Ronisha all nursing various injuries.
All five players that started at least two games last season averaged double digit minutes ranging from 17 mpg to 34 (Chassidy). Chassidy was also the leading scorer last season. Chassidy is the leading 3pt shooter returning from last season, making 37.8% of her treys. She also made and took twice as many 3s as any other player last season. She made 90.4% of her FTs, leading the team in that category. Chelsea hit 34.2% from BTA and 73.9% from the FT line as she ranks second among returning players in those two categories. Horns lost their top rebounder but return four players that averaged between 5 and 4.3 rpg: Nneka, Cokie, Anne Marie and Chassidy. And add 6-7 Imani to help bolster the rebounding.
While Chassidy is likely to be the focus of the offense, the posts should be a bigger part for the offense. It should be safe to say that Texas will play an uptempo game with presses coming often. The rotation should allow for substitutions to be made often. The one exception might be Chassidy in a tight game. PG at this time is still a work in progress although Celina and Ashley seem to be the primary options there with Empress as a possible third option.
Projected starters:
Nneka
Cokie
Empress
Celina
Chassidy
It will be interesting to see if the three players held out for the exhibition due to injuries will be cleared to play as they will add experience to both the backcourt and frontcourt.
No luck in finding the game televised or online. Only other chance might be CBSSports.com online but I haven’t signed up for it so can’t get to their schedule. Guess it’s KVET’s 1300 AM radio with Jon Madani (pxp) and Amie Smith Bradley (analyst). Yea, Amie!
texassports.com WBI Tip Off Classic preview
Hofstra.com WBI Tip Off Classic preview
