William Alligood
The women’s basketball team will play its annual Red-White scrimmage tonight in Reynolds Coliseum at 7 p.m in an event that will also feature the men’s team. The game will be the first time the men’s and women’s teams have played their scrimmages on the same night in the same location.
This year’s team consists of a group of six seniors leading a group of six freshmen that was ranked the No. 9 recruiting class in the nation, with only one sophomore and junior on the team.
Though the Pack lost last year’s leading scorer, Tiffany Stansbury, it returns its leading rebounder from last season in junior forward Khadijah Whittington, who averaged eight per game. Alongside Whittington is returning senior guard Ashley Key, who just returned to practice from lateral meniscus surgery. Key led the team in assists last season with 124, and was the second leading scorer with 10.9 points per game.
According to coach Kay Yow, the Pack will rely heavily on the experience and solid play of the upperclassmen this coming year.
“You look at Ashley, you look at Khadijah, and then Marquetta Dickens,” Yow said. “They are three players that have a lot of playing time under their belt. And then you have Sasha Reaves who really has come on strong for us and is a senior. We’re looking for them to give leadership to those young players.”
Yow said tonight’s game will be played mostly to create a good atmosphere for the fans and let them get acquainted with this year’s team, that has quite a few new faces who were highly touted out of high school.
“We have six freshmen,” Yow said. “We want the fans to get familiar with our freshmen, with our returning players. The freshman class is a talented class. I think that they’re gonna’ be able to come in and give us some help.”
According to Yow, the game will be competitive and likely exhausting for a team who will be playing with only 11 players because of injuries. The team will be without both centers in the game and will look to implement a full-court press with a smaller lineup opening the season. Though this will be exciting against ensuing opponents, Yow said it will likely be tiring for the team.
“For us it’s going to be a matter of survival because we’re down to 11 players,” Yow said. “One team had no subs. We are practicing hard still because we have a lot to cover and out of those 11 players, five of them are freshmen. We’re going to open the season with forwards and guards because our centers are out right now. As a result we’re extending our D, and pressing a lot. With no subs, and pressing a lot, that could be a killer.”
Yow said she believes tonight will be a good time to assess and condition a talented and developing team and is mostly for the fans to come out and get excited about the team.
“Tomorrow night will definitely be more for the fans,” Yow said. “For them to see and become more comfortable with the players. I like the odds tomorrow.”