Q&A WITH HEAD COACH SHARON BALDWIN-TENER
First of all, talk about your general thoughts on the 2007-08 season, coming off such a successful campaign last year.
Last season was an exciting time for our basketball program. It had been 25 years since ECU had been to the NCAA tournament and that was our goal at the beginning of the season. We got off to a rocky start but I was extremely proud of the way our team came together down the stretch and played their best basketball in February and March. Our team was able to get a taste of what it is like to go to the NCAA tournament and understand what it takes every game to reach that goal. I am looking forward to this season and anticipating the returnees wanting to go back to the tournament again.More
HOUSTON
With experienced hands returning in key positions and a class of high-impact newcomers, the University of Houston women's basketball team is poised to return the program to a championship level during the 2007-08 season. Coming off a 9-19 season that saw its fair share of struggles, one might expect the Cougars to be a little restrained in making predictions for the 2007-08 campaign. That is definitely not the case for 10th-year head coach Joe Curl who feels that he has the talent and depth to lead Houston back to the success it enjoyed just a few short years ago.More
MARSHALL
The 2007-08 season will bring about many changes for the Thundering Herd women's basketball program. Gone are the familiar faces of KaShawna Curry, Bridget Chacon and Modupe Ishola. Curry, who was a four-year starter, was a team leader while Ishola, last year's leading scorer on the team, gave the Herd what was the best inside presence in Conference USA while Chacon's leadership at the point guard position will be sorely missed. While these are significant losses, there are several reasons for optimism. With three starters and eight letter winners returning, the team brings back a solid base of experience. That, coupled with the addition of seven exciting newcomers, just may be the right prescription the Thundering Herd needs to move to the top of Conference USA.More
MEMPHIS
Heading in to the 2007-08 season, Head Coach Blair Savage-Lansden made some moves to re-energize her young Lady Tiger team. With seven letterwinners returning, the Lady Tigers have a solid core to add seven newcomers to. The challenge for the team will be how the five newcomers come together with the team in the fall semester, and then how well the addition of Florida transfers Jessica Jackson and LaToya Bullard works at the semester break.More
RICE
After back-to-back Conference USA Championship game and Women's National Invitational Tournament appearances, head coach Greg Williams and the Rice women's basketball program looks to continue the success that the Hanszen College product has built at his alma mater during his first two seasons.
Rice has strung together 11 consecutive winning seasons, but the 2007-08 campaign will be a different challenge for Williams. The Owls have been tabbed the preseason conference favorite in its first two seasons in C-USA, but Rice finds itself sixth in this season's edition of the league's preseason poll.
"We're a team in transition with five freshmen and a couple of players coming off of injuries," Williams said. "Hopefully, when conference play rolls around, the freshmen aren't playing like freshmen anymore and our injured players will be healthy to go through the rigors of a very competitive C-USA schedule."More
SMU
There are many themes teams point to as a new season approaches: Returning starters who bring talent and experience, an infusion of talent from promising newcomers or a coaching staff with a proven tradition of winning. The SMU women's basketball team can claim all three.
Coming off an 18-12 season, the Ponies welcome back all five starters from last year - or six, including Katie Gross, a starter in 2005-06 who sat out last season with an injury. A strong defender and an exceptional long-range shooter - her 128 career three-pointers are the third-highest total in school history - Gross will be one of four seniors on this year's squad, giving the Mustangs the most experienced roster they've had in years. More
SOUTHERN MISS
Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis is entering the 2007-08 season with a great sense of familiarity. For the second-consecutive year, she possesses only one senior on her basketball squad, in the form of center Liz Biland. While most coaches would feel inadequate in such a position, McNelis can't help but look back to her 15-15 overall record from 2006-07, which marked the most wins in seven seasons, and predict a winning season in her future.
Before now graduated guard Kristin Chaney and Biland took their places at the head of the team, McNelis dealt with a complete absence of senior leadership during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons; therefore, it's safe to say that the fourth-year head coach has a way of molding young squads into what can't be mistaken for true Southern Miss Lady Eagle Basketball.More
TULANE
The 2007-08 Green Wave women's basketball team returns nine letter-winners from last season's Conference USA regular season championship squad, as Tulane will seek a second-straight appearance in the post-season.
Under the guidance of 2007 Conference USA Coach of the Year Lisa Stockton, the Green Wave finished 26-7 and advanced to the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament in 2006-07, the 10th time in 13 years under Stockton's leadership the Wave have reached the post-season.More
TULSA
As you glance at the 2007-08 Tulsa women's basketball team, you may not recognize many faces, but take a longer look and you will see a group of determined, hard-working, team-driven student-athletes and coaches with a new attitude and a desire to win. You will see new players and new staff, but old or new, student-athlete or coach, they are all here to put Tulsa back on the map this season.More
UAB
After a breakout season in 2006-07, the UAB women's basketball team is building on that success and reaching for greater heights during 2007-08. The Blazers finished the '06-'07 campaign with a 19-13 record, including a second place standing in Conference USA and an appearance in the postseason WNIT.
Head coach Audra Smith returns for her fourth season at the helm of the Blazers, continuing to bring UAB women's basketball back into the national spotlight. Smith also retains her entire staff for the '07-'08 season, including assistant coaches Daryl Oliver, JoVanka J. Ward and Kathy Allen. More
UCF
The 2007-08 season ushers in a new era for UCF women's basketball. Not only is the program celebrating a new coaching staff, led by Joi Williams, but the Knights are also christening a new facility with the opening of the new UCF Arena. To keep the theme consistent, the team itself features 10 new players, including nine freshmen.
"We're excited about the potential on this team," said Williams. "We are looking to play to each of the players' strengths, which will allow each of them to gain valuable experience and translate that into success." More
UTEP
The 2006-07 UTEP women's basketball season was one for the ages. The Miners established school records for wins (22), fewest losses (eight) and single-game attendance (7,212 versus Memphis) on the way to taking a large step in turning the program into both a conference and regional power.
There were early indications that the campaign would be special, as UTEP burst out of the gates at 11-1. The momentum carried into Conference USA play, where the Miners -- who were tabbed to finish 10th out of 12 teams in the preseason coaches' poll -- exceeded expectations by winning a school record-tying 10 league games en route to tying for fourth place. More
