Women's Basketball | 10/29/2014 3:06:00 PM
CONWAY — After earning the No. 3 seed in last year's Southland Conference tournament and finishing just short of a regular season conference championship with a 12-6 Southland mark, the Central Arkansas women's basketball team has been predicted to once again be among the league's top teams as the Sugar Bears have been selected 4th in both the Coaches and Sports Information Directors preseason polls, the conference announced Wednesday.
The Sugar Bears were picked in a tie with McNeese State for 4th in the Coaches Poll, and were even with Nicholls in the SID Poll, receiving one 1st-place vote. They were one of three teams to garner a 1st-place vote, joining defending league champion Stephen F. Austin (9) and last year's Southland tournament champion Northwestern State (3).
The 2014-15 edition of the Sugar Bears will have a decidedly different makeup from last year's team, as 2014 Southland Conference Player of the Year Courtney Duever and 5th-year senior Micah Rice both exhausted their eligibility, and 10 of the 11 players on the roster are in either their first or second year in a Central Arkansas uniform.
"We lost two starters who accomplished a lot during their careers here," said Sandra Rushing, entering her third season on the Central Arkansas bench. "It's very difficult to try and replace players like Courtney Duever and Micah Rice, who were here four or five years and did a great job of leading the team. We're very young, even with our upperclassmen we have kids who are young to this program, and what we're trying to figure out now is who is going to step up and take over those roles that Courtney and Micah had. So far we've been pleased with the way the players have come in and worked extremely hard and had positive attitudes. I'm not sure what the season is going to entail, but I do know we're going to play defense and work extremely hard."
Part of the offseason process of developing leaders and chemistry among the team has been hampered with injuries and illnesses, keeping the team from having many days at full strength on the practice floor.
"We haven't had the entire team together since the first day of practice," Rushing said. "We've had injuries, mono, bronchitis and whatever else. There's been some adversity during the preseason, but the players have handled it extremely well. They've got to come in every day and get better and keep working, and hopefully before we open up the season we'll have everybody back and be able to start developing some chemistry and the team concept we need."
The season opens on Nov. 14 at Western Kentucky in the Preseason WNIT. The Lady Toppers were picked 2nd in the Conference USA preseason poll and feature the CUSA Preseason Player of the Year in Chastity Gooch along with Preseason All-CUSA selections Alexis Govan and Kendall Noble.
"The schedule is challenging, right from the start," Rushing said. "We're excited about the competition we're going to play and that's only going to help us down the road. We've got a big challenge early, it's not like we have a couple of soft games. We've got to jump in with both feet. But it can only help us, as long as it doesn't destroy our confidence. The better competition you play, it always helps prepare your team. We're working toward Western Kentucky right now, and that's going to be an eye opener not only for our returners but especially for our new players."
Leading the way for the returning group are sophomores Brianna Mullins (the 2014 Southland Freshman of the Year) and Maggie Proffitt, who combined for 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game as freshmen last season. The Sugar Bears also return a pair of seniors in forwards Brittany Agee and Terai Sadler, who combined for 12.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game last season in their first year at UCA.
"What's really great about Bri and Maggie are the they're really competitive people," Rushing said. "They helped us tremendously last year and we're going to ask them to take on a lot of the load this season. There were some things we asked Bri to work on and improve on in the offseason, and she's come back and you can see she's worked on it and is doing a good job leading our team. Maggie's a tremendous shooter, but what she's done in the offseason is improve at putting it on the floor and being more of a threat off the dribble. She missed the first three weeks of practice due to sickness, but she's a tough kid. She hated sitting out and got right back into practice and never missed a beat.
"In our rebuilding process, it's great to have a foundation that starts with sophomores who have been with me and know what we want," Rushing said. "We've only got two seniors, and last season Agee didn't live up to my expectations but has come in and done a great job in the preseason. She had surgery after last season and has fought back and is doing a tremendous job. We're going to need her and Terai to step up, pull some of the load and help bring these young kids along."
The young kids include a pair of freshman guards in Olivia McWilliams from Little Rock, who led eStem to a state title last season, and Bellaire, Texas guard Angel Williams.
"We're expecting a lot from our freshmen," Rushing said. "Olivia's an absolutely tremendous player and we were excited to get her. Right now she's the backup point guard. She can really handle it, is athletic and has a great jumper. Angel Williams is a good player from Houston, and she has come in very fundamentally sound. What's happening with our freshmen is, the game's too fast. Their head is spinning, but they're working hard trying to learn. What they need is experience. We've got to throw them to the fire early and look forward to conference. And we're looking for big things."
