'Hawks will have 8 new players this year

With seven returning players and a talented group of recruits, Southeast has high hopes for upcoming season.

Seven returnees and eight newcomers make up what Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach B.J. Smith believes will be his most talented team yet.

With classes having started last week, Smith's 15-player roster is now set -- barring possible additions at the semester -- and it includes five recruits who had not previously been announced by the university.

"I'm very happy with the players we have coming back, and the new players we brought in," Smith said.

The Redhawks return four players who started at least 15 games, six players who averaged at least 14 minutes per contest and six of their top eight scorers from Smith's third Southeast team last year that had the program's most successful season on the Division I level.

Southeast was 22-8 a year ago, finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference at 14-2 and lost in overtime to Eastern Kentucky in the championship game of the OVC Tournament.

Only two players who saw significant action -- starting center Chandra Brown and starting guard Brandi Russia -- were lost from that squad, prompting Smith to say, "Talentwise, this is our best group."

Headlining the returnees is 6-foot-2 senior forward Tatiana Conceicao, the reigning OVC player of the year. The former junior college All-American led the Redhawks in scoring at 17.6 points per game and was second in rebounding at 6.1 per game.

Also back are 6-foot senior forward Natalie Purcell (8.9 ppg), 5-9 senior forward Simone Jackson (7.9 ppg), 5-3 senior guard Katrisha Dunn (6.0 ppg), 5-7 senior point guard Wanika Owsley (5.1 ppg, team-high 100 assists) and 5-7 senior point guard Tiffanne Ryan (3.6 ppg).

The final returnee is 5-5 sophomore walk-on guard Aisha Moreno, who saw little action.

"We've got so many good returning players," Smith said. "It's a really good senior class."

Four freshmen from last season, who all saw limited action, did not return to the program. Leanne Evans, Rachel Mueggenborg, Julie Sweetin and Liz Sharpe-Taylor combined to average a little more than seven points per game.

"I think all probably left for different reasons, but I think they saw that playing time would have been hard to get," Smith said.

The eight newcomers feature two junior college transfers and six freshmen.

Joiceline Thesing, a 6-6 center from Labette (Kan.) Community College, will be the tallest player in the history of the program.

"She's not a project; she's a good player, but we don't want expectations to be too high," Smith said.

Lachelle Lyles, a 6-2 center from Shelton State (Ala.) Community College, suffered a serious knee injury prior to last season and missed the entire campaign, but she is now healthy.

"She committed to [national power] Louisiana Tech early, but they backed off after the injury," Smith said. "She's an athlete. She can really rebound."

Thesing and Lyles will be counted on to fill the void in the middle left by Brown, the squad's leading rebounder and shot-blocker last year.

"CB will be hard to replace, but those two will have to step in," Smith said.

The freshmen are 6-foot forward Rachel Blunt from Dexter High School; 5-7 guard Sonya Daugherty, who was one of the state's all-time leading scorers at Hancock High School in St. Louis; 5-6 guard Tarina Nixon from Gilbert, Ariz.; 5-5 guard Chytearra Kintchen from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; 5-7 guard Szandra Pal from Budapest, Hungary; and 5-7 walk-on guard Heather Diebold from Branson, Mo.

Pal is academically ineligible until the second semester.

"I'm really happy with all the freshmen," Smith said.

Smith said Blunt, an all-stater at Dexter, and Nixon, a point guard who led her team to an Arizona large-school state title, could challenge for serious playing time right away.

"I think Tarina will make us figure out a way to play her, and I'm really excited about Rachel," Smith said. "Those two might have the biggest impact [among the freshmen]."

The Redhawks began individual workouts last week, with official practice scheduled to start Oct. 15.

New assistant coaches

Smith also has a pair of new assistant coaches, topped by Michelle Fortier. She replaces Kevin Emerick, who left after one season.

Fortier, 34, spent the past 11 seasons as the head coach at Division III Kalamazoo College in Michigan, where she compiled a 131-153 record and was the winningest coach in the program's history.

"I wanted to get into Division I after being in the Division III environment," said Fortier, the starting point guard at Western Michigan University from 1989 through 1993. She still ranks third all-time in assists and sixth in steals at WMU. "I'm very excited to be here."

Said Smith, "I feel fortunate to have somebody like her. She's got a lot of experience."

Also, Katrina Colwell, Southeast's head student manager the past two seasons, has been elevated to part-time coach to fill the spot left vacant when Franqua Bedell recently took a position in student services at Southeast. Bedell was on the Redhawks' staff for two years.

"I hated to lose him, but the [coaching] position didn't pay much and he basically tripled his salary. It's good for him financially," Smith said. "She [Colwell] has really helped us out the last two years, doing various things in the program, and this will make the transition so much easier."

Rounding out Smith's staff is Lisa Pace, who will be entering her sixth season at Southeast.

Schedule not yet set

There are still a few details to be worked out before Southeast's 2005-2006 schedule is released, but Smith said the Redhawks open with a game at perennial national power Texas Tech.

The home nonconference slate is highlighted by a contest against Southern Illinois University, along with the annual four-team Thanksgiving tournament.