Women's Basketball Opens 2010-11 Practice
10/5/2010 11:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. – After five weeks of work in the weight room, the Georgia Southern Women's Basketball team finally hit the court for the first official practice of the 2010-11 season Tuesday (October 5). The Lady Eagles hit the court in Hanner Fieldhouse and got right down to the basics.
"We worked on fundamentals and conditioning," said Head Coach Rusty Cram. "For the next 5-10 practices, we'll throw in some fundamental things to build toward the team stuff. We certainly spent a lot of time on the offensive fundamentals and defensive fundamentals, a lot of running, a lot of conditioning and a lot of shooting. We have to work on the mental as well as the physical, but that just takes time.
"I thought the energy was good," noted Cram. "For this stage of the game, we are very pleased with where they are at both physically as well as mentally. When you have five freshmen, you have to move slower so they can pick up things. Overall, I was very pleased with the day, I thought it went well."
Cram is entering his 15th season at the helm of the women's basketball program and 21st year overall at Georgia Southern. Cram is the winningest coach in Georgia Southern women's basketball history, carrying a 219-190 overall record into the new season.
Georgia Southern boasts 10 letterwinners returning from a 2009-10 squad that finished 19-12 overall and 13-7 in the Southern Conference. The Lady Eagles return two starters in senior point guard Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) and junior guard Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.). Navarro became the program's top-ranked free throw shooter in a season, knocking down 87.7 percent from the line to break the previous record of 85.2 percent set in 2005-06. The senior ranked as high as third nationally in free throw percentage and finished the season ranked 12th. Tate nailed a career-best 15 points at Elon and made 26 starts her junior season.
"It went really well," Navarro said about the first practice, which lasted two and a half hours. "We had a lot of positive energy and everybody was really enthusiastic." While the first practice probably seemed long, Navarro commented on how quickly the last three years have gone.
"It went by so fast," commented Navarro. "I don't even know where the time went. I don't want it to go away, I hope it slows down."
This season, Georgia Southern welcomes five newcomers in Brittney Benzio (Palm City, Fla.), Jordi Cook (Tunnel Hill, Ga.), Lacie Dowling (Nahunta, Ga.), Danielle Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) and Aishya Wofford (Augusta, Ga.).
The 2010-11 season gets underway when the Lady Eagles travel to in-state rival Georgia November 14 for the first contest of the new season. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. in Athens, Ga. The home season opener has been set for Nov. 16 against Mercer at 7 p.m.
Fans can usher in the new season with both the men's and women's basketball teams on Friday, Oct. 15 with Meet the Basketball Eagles. The event will follow the volleyball match that begins at 6 p.m. against UNC Greensboro. Both teams will autograph the 2010-11 schedule cards and schedule posters, as well as take part in a three-point contest and scrimmage. The men's team will also have a dunk contest.
