The Ouachita Lady Tigers started the season last week night with a 111-51 victory over Central Baptist. The win gave Lady Tiger head coach Garry Crowder his 200th career victory at Ouachita. Crowder was presented the game ball before the guys game by David Sharp, director of athletics.
The Lady Tigers play several freshmen this year, with eight on the roster.
“They will be major contributors this year,” Crowed said. “I feel like they have added a lot of energy to our program.”
Among the freshmen are Domino Miller, who started at point guard in the victory Tuesday; Tamara Robinson; who had 16 points and eight rebounds, Beulah Osueke, who recorded 13 points and six rebounds; A’Laeshia Adams, who scored 12 points, and Sarah Pough, who grabbed 10 rebounds.
“We have a lot of young people this year and we expect them to adapt well to the college level of ball, and I think they already have. They bring fresh legs and a lot of depth because all of them can play,” junior guard Melissa Richardson said.
Those freshmen team up with returning players such as Gabby Coleman, Richardson, Haley Griffin, Kim Beverly, Angela Coliver, Kayla Hulsey and Miranda Parker, who will be counted on not only for their play, but also for their valuable experience and leadership ability.
“We have some experience coming back and a lot of girls who got a lot of playing time,” Crowed said. “With the combination of those two things [freshmen and returnees] we really like what we see this year.”
Crowder is very excited about the depth on this year’s team, especially at guard, which will allow them to play an up tempo game.
“We feel like the team can handle the ball, pass the ball and shoot the ball, and we feel we are athletic,” Crowder said.
The Lady Tigers will be running the Princeton offense this year, which incorporates spreading the floor and back cuts, but they will be running it very fast.
“We want to get down the floor quickly and take advantage of the fact we are able to play 10, 11 or 12 players a night,” Crowder said.
“The strength this year I think is the fact that we have a lot of girls that can play. With that we can run a fast pace game and wear the other team out,” Richardson said.
The Lady Tigers will use mostly half-court, man-on defense, but will occasionally throw in some pressure traps.
Coach Crowder believes the keys for the Lady Tigers is to stay away from major injuries and to keep good team chemistry and Richardson agrees.
Senior post player Hulsey has already gone down for the season with an ACL injury, and the Lady Tigers hope to not lose anyone else.
The Lady Tigers will be playing in what Crowder calls one of the toughest Divison II conferences in the country and will look to surprise many. The Lady Tigers were not a favorite in pre-season polls, but they will bring a determined talented team to the floor to try and prove everyone wrong.
