Lady Hawks have high expectations entering basketball season

By Kelly Kahumoku

Sports Information Intern

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon women's basketball team put together the best season in school history last year. Entering a new conference the Lady Hawks hope to build off of that success this season.

This will be Huntingdon's first season as a member of the USA South Athletic Conference. The Lady Hawks are ranked third in the preseason conference poll, but head coach Buzz Phillips knows his team will have to work harder than ever to live up to expectations.

"What we proved last year doesn't do a thing for us this year," Phillips said. "We're going into a new conference that is competitive from top to bottom. Every game, we are going to have to compete at a level like we did in the NCAA tournament."

Huntingdon set the program record for wins with a 19-10 record last season and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. The Lady Hawks defeated Ferrum 84-67 in the first round before falling to Emory in the second round. Ferrum is now a conference rival in the USA South and is ranked No. 1 in the preseason conference poll.

Senior Jodie Thomas said the Lady Hawks know the challenges ahead of them but are determined to keep moving forward.

"We need to stay focused, and not take a step backward," Thomas said. "We have a target on our back this season and we have to stay grounded and recognize that there are strong teams in our new conference. We need to keep working hard and continue to build team chemistry. That was one of the main reasons for our success last season."

Thomas is one of four returning starters (Thomas, Raven Prater, Pat Pickens, and Tan Munford) for the Lady Hawks. Pickens, an all-conference selection as a sophomore, was the team's leading scorer last season with 13.2 points per game and second in rebounds with 7.4 per game. Prater was third on the team in scoring (8.4 points per game) and third in assists. Munford led the team with 8.8 rebounds per game and Thomas was third in rebounds with 6.4 per game.

"Having those four players back is big for us," Phillips said. "They've played a lot of games together and we're relying on them for leadership."

Phillips is also excited about the potential of his newcomers. He said several of the first-year players have looked good in the preseason and are expected to contribute this season.

But the Lady Hawks do have one glaring hole to fill, finding a replacement for all-conference point guard, assists leader (149), steals leader (94) and second-leading scorer (12.3 points per game), Morgan Crawford.

"Our biggest question right now is at point guard. It's not easy to replace a player like Morgan Crawford," Phillips said. "It's a process but we've had good competition between several players."

Huntingdon opens the season on Tuesday at Pensacola Christian. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.