Smith will have to find right mix for many new players

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach B.J. Smith didn't major in chemistry during his college days, but he knows that how all his team's parts blend together will be critical to the squad's season.

Smith welcomed in 11 new players this year, as Southeast returned just four players from a squad that went 16-13 overall and finished fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference at 10-6.

"I really like our talent. I think this is the most talented team we've had, and I think our other two teams were pretty talented," said Smith, in his third season at Southeast after previously coaching junior college power Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. "Chemistry is going to be very important for us this year. Our biggest concern is getting everybody on the same page."

That's something Smith believes never quite happened last year. After going 19-11, finishing second in the OVC and reaching the conference tournament finals during Smith's first season, Southeast was hailed as the league's preseason favorite.

"Last year, our team was never as good as our talent, and that's coaching," Smith said. "We just never could figure out how to put the pieces together."

Southeast was picked to finish fifth in this year's OVC preseason poll, but Smith expects his squad to fare better than that. He's counting on contending for the championship.

"I really like this group," he said. "But chemistry will be the key."

Southeast's four returnees are 6-foot-3 senior forward/center Chandra Brown, 5-11 senior forward Miah Shelford, 5-7 senior guard Brandi Russia and 5-7 junior guard Tiffanne Ryan.

Brown averaged 10.3 points -- third on the squad -- and a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game last year as a starter. Shelford (4.2 ppg), Russia (3.7 ppg) and Ryan (2.6 ppg) came off the bench.

"Those four will be very important for us," Smith said. "Chandra had a good season for her first year in Division I basketball, and I think she'll be a lot better this year."

Many of the 11 new players will play major roles, led by Tatiana Conceicao, a 6-2 center who earned first-team junior college All-American honors at Western Nebraska Community College last season.

"She can be a great player for us," Smith said. "As far as talent, she's up there with anybody I've had, and I've had two kids go to the WNBA."

Several other junior college transfers should also see plenty of action, led by 6-0 forward Natalie Purcell, 5-7 guard Wanika Owsley, 5-3 guard Katrisha Dunn and 5-9 forward Simone Jackson. Rounding out the juco transfers is 5-9 forward Jennifer Hitchman.

The five-player freshmen class consists of 6-2 center Leanne Evans, 5-10 forward Julie Sweetin, 5-9 forward Liz Sharpe-Taylor, 5-6 guard Rachel Mueggenborg and 5-5 guard Aisha Moreno.

"I think we've got some very talented freshmen, and hopefully some of them will be able to help us this year," Smith said.

Smith said his players should be able to use the fact they have been picked to finish in the middle of the OVC pack as motivation.

He also believes another tough non-conference schedule -- Southeast opened with nationally ranked Oklahoma and next month hosts national power Southwest Missouri State -- should help prepare the team for its conference slate.

"We probably deserved to be picked where we were because that's usually based on how you did the year before and what you have coming back," Smith said. "But we're a lot bigger and a lot more athletic than we've been. We plan on doing a lot better than what people think."

Southeast opened the season Friday at Oklahoma and hosts Lyon College tonight.