By Mason Wittner, Staff Writer
Setting the Kennesaw State record for wins in a single season wasn’t enough. At least not in women’s basketball head coach Nitra Perry’s mind.
The Owls, fresh off a 17-13 season, look to build upon last year’s newfound success after combining for 13 total wins in their two previous seasons.
“We won those 17 games, but in winning those games of course teams are more prepared for you,”Perry said. “So it will be a little bit more difficult, but I feel like we have the experience mixed with the talent this year. We’ll have a little bit more depth. The expectation is to win more games, but at least 17.”
KSU will be returning seven players from a season ago to their roster along with the addition of eight new players.
Coach Perry knows there will be a transitional period for her team to mesh together, but this year’s squad has the potential to be more talented than last season.
“The good thing about the returners is that they’re very mature,” Perry said. “We’ve got two seniors in Karly Frye and Jasmine McCallister. Then the rest of them, they are just unselfish and will all be in and out of the starting lineup. They’re really bringing the young kids along every day.”
Arguably the biggest difference between the two squads is height. The Owls had just two players who were six feet or taller a year ago. This season they have six.
Coach Perry plans to implement defensive schemes that can utilize the team’s length.
“For us, I think [our height] helps us defensively,” Perry said. “It helps us in rebounding, but really defense. We’re just more athletic along with the length. So you’ll see us doing a little bit more pressing, just a different feel of the game. We’ll be a more athletic team. You’ll see us pushing the ball a little bit more.
Freshmen Alexis Jean, Alexandra Landby, Allison Johnson and Stephanie Hobson are four of the six players on KSU’s roster at six feet or taller.
McCallister, the Owls’ senior center, is coming off a season in which she registered 15 double-doubles and averaged 13.8 points and 10.6 rebounds a game. She has been named to the Atlantic Sun Conference preseason all-conference team.
Perry stated that McCallister, often times reserved, is working to become a more vocal leader.
There isn’t one specific game that stands out in particular for the Owls, but Perry emphasized the importance of beating their in-state opponents.
“We open at home with Georgia State, who has traditionally been a very good team,” Perry said. “We beat them there last year, so I know they’ll be coming after us this year. We’ve got some big hitters – Georgia, Florida and our in-state rival Mercer. Our whole thing is to win the state of Georgia, and then after that we want to compete in every game.”
The Owls have been picked to finish fourth place in the Atlantic Sun in both the Coaches and Media polls.
Coach Perry claimed that although they’re picked higher than where they were the two previous seasons; her team is focused on where they finish rather than where they begin.
KSU hosts Emory in an exhibition match Sunday Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. The regular season begins at home against Georgia State Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.
