GREENWOOD, Ind. - A new season for eight Great Midwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball programs is a week away and 2015-16 promises to be another intriguing year.
A new season always signifies some degree of change, but unlike the men’s side with many standout returners, the conference will adjust to life without some of the premier women’s names in recent history.
Four of the five 2014-15 first-team all-conference selections were seniors as several teams saw their leading scorer move on to life after graduation.
Gone is G-MAC Player of the Year and DII Bulletin All-American Raegan Ryan (Cedarville). Gone is nightly double-double threat and imposing post presence Sharmaine Baker (Davis & Elkins). Gone is scoring extraordinaire Iniquia Snell (Central State). And gone is versatile combo four-year forward Kaci Britt Bell (Trevecca Nazarene).
The 2014-15 all-conference second team even had four seniors. Some new names will step up to the forefront in their absences as coaches around the league look to fill their shoes.
Exhibitions against NCAA Division I opponents are something the fans and student-athletes look forward to. The change from two halves to four quarters is also a new wrinkle in the landscape of women’s basketball.
Ursuline played No. 10 Ohio State while Kentucky Wesleyan scheduled games against Austin Peay and Southern Illinois. Ohio Valley also contested Eastern Kentucky.
Breaking coaching news hit the wire in the offseason as Cedarville’s Kirk Martin announced he would be stepping down at the end of this season. Ohio Valley has a new interim coach at the helm as Jazmone Turner gets ready to lead the Fighting Scots.
The G-MAC will get an AQ in women’s basketball this year. Cedarville didn’t need one after storming to an at-large selection to the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional as the No. 8 seed.
Team previews below are in the order as voted in the G-MAC preseason coaches poll.
No. 1 Cedarville Yellow Jackets
Head Coach: Kirk Martin
2014-15 Record (Overall): 27-4
2014-15 Record (G-MAC): 15-1
2014-15 All-G-MAC Returners: Kayla Linkous (first team), Regina Hochstetler (all-freshman team), Breanne Watterworth (all-freshman team), Abby Wolford (all-freshman team)
Key Departures: Raegan Ryan (G-MAC Player of the Year, first team all-conference), Deborah Gordon
2015-16 Outlook: The Yellow Jackets took the G-MAC by storm last year, winning key in-region out-of-conference games that caught the attention of the NCAA selection committee.
Cedarville’s overall body of work was too hard to overlook and the program was rewarded with the G-MAC’s first women’s basketball appearance in the national tournament.
Head coach Kirk Martin has announced this will be his final season before turning the keys over to assistant coach Kari Hoffman.
The Yellow Jackets were buzzing with excitement on their way to a 27-4 overall record and winning 15 of 16 league games last year. Despite getting ready for a new year without do-it-all guard Raegan Ryan, Kayla Linkous is as dominant as any player in the league has to offer.
Linkous was the league’s seventh-best scorer (13.1 ppg) and shot over 55 percent from the field. There were torrid stretches in 2014-15 where she put up numbers that far exceeded her season averages.
Kaysie Brittenham is another talented ball handler in the backcourt while a trio of G-MAC All-Freshman Team members looks to make the step forward in their progression: Regina Hochstetler, Breanne Watterworth and Abby Wolford.
Martin and the Yellow Jackets are no longer a hidden gem -- being in the national tournament guarantees that. A 27-4 record may be tricky to replicate, but this is still a dangerous group with talent and depth at each position.
No. 2 Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers
Head Coach: Caleb & Nicole Nieman
2014-15 Record (Overall): 20-9
2014-15 Record (G-MAC): 13-3
2014-15 All-G-MAC Returners: Jennifer Walker-Crawford (first team), Haley Cook (all-freshman team)
Key Departures: Jordanne Gambill (second team)
2015-16 Outlook: The Panthers advanced all the way to the G-MAC Championship title game last year and an experienced group will be be hungrier than ever to get there again and go beyond.
Junior forward Jennifer Walker-Crawford anchors a balanced, veteran roster after finishing in the top 12 in scoring and top 13 in rebounding a year ago.
The departure of senior all-conference forward Jordanne Gambill leaves a big void at the forward position. She averaged almost 13 points per game in 2014-15.
KWC ended last season as hot as any team, winning six straight (including the postseason) before falling to Cedarville in the final.
Katie Miller, Bria Wright, Brittany Wells, Erin Dorn and Haley Cook, are all back. Combined, the four averaged about 27 points per game and figure to have increased roles with another year under their belt.
The head coach combo of Caleb & Nicole Nieman saw their program picked second in the preseason poll and aim to be the early favorites to try and dethrone Cedarville at the top of the league.
No. 3 Trevecca Nazarene Trojans
Head Coach: Gary Van Atta
2014-15 Record (Overall): 17-10
2014-15 Record (G-MAC): 14-2
2014-15 All-G-MAC Returners: None
Key Departures: Kaci Britt Bell (first team), Christina Curtner (second team)
2015-16 Outlook: The Trojans will feature a new look like this year with the familiar faces of Britt Bell and Curtner both moving on as the team’s top scorers.
The pair combined to average almost 25 points per game and were two of the league’s top 15 scorers.
Versatile guard Paige Baugher is back and almost averaged double-digits, a figure that will probably climb with the most experience in the backcourt.
Helen Mitchner is another senior member for this year’s team -- she and Baugher went to the same high school so their history dates further back than most.
Like Kentucky Wesleyan, the Trojans ended 2014-15 on a flurry with a 10-game win streak including the postseason. But the magic ran out in the semifinals of the G-MAC Championship at the hands of KWC by a narrow five-point margin.
Trevecca Nazarene is breaking in a stable of freshmen, six to be exact. Some will figure to get prominent playing time under head coach Gary Van Atta, who accomplished 500 career wins last year. The Trojans were picked third in the preseason coaches poll.
No. 4 Davis & Elkins Senators
Head Coach: Jason Asbell
2014-15 Record (Overall): 13-14
2014-15 Record (G-MAC): 8-8
2014-15 All-G-MAC Returners: None
Key Departures: Sharmaine Baker (first team), Ashley Bowles (second team)
2015-16 Outlook: Similar to the situation at Trevecca Nazarene, Davis & Elkins will be replacing a first team and second team all-conference performer.
Sharmaine Baker and Ashley Bowles were big-time contributors for head coach Jason Asbell. Baker was the G-MAC’s scoring leader in 2014-15 with 19.4 points per game while ranking seventh in rebounding with 6.7 per contest.
Bowles flew under the radar and quietly put up almost 14 points per game while also hauling in over five rebounds.
While their production leaves big shoes to fill, Asbell has the league’s best passer, Stephanie Wooten, running the controls at the point for her junior season.
Wooten dished out 6.1 assists per game and by default, is now the team’s top scorer from a year ago at 10.3 ppg. The Senators will be looking for increased production from the likes of Mary Jane Braham and Caitlyn/Carley O’Neal.
D&E also has eight freshmen on the roster and there is one senior on the roster, Hannah Carl.
No. 5 Ursuline Arrows
Head Coach: Shannon Sword
2014-15 Record (Overall): 8-21
2014-15 Record (G-MAC): 6-10
2014-15 All-G-MAC Returners: None
Key Departures: Makayla Rosselot (all-freshman team), Emma Ricketts (second team), Madison Schroeder (all-freshman team)
2015-16 Outlook: Veteran guard Erica Huber is an established leader and proven point guard in the league as she gets ready for an increased workload in her junior year.
Ursuline put up an impressive 61 points against No. 10 Ohio State to highlight exhibition action as the Arrows were unfazed in Columbus.
Head coach Shannon Sword saw three players score in double figures and hang tough against the mismatches a DI caliber team like the Buckeyes presents.
It was tough sledding for the Arrows out of the gates in 2014-15 and some key personnel is not back on this year’s roster headlined by second-team all-conference forward Emma Ricketts.
The league will get used to the Arrows’ new names. Huber and Camryn Hill are both key contributors from a year ago, but Ursuline is also dealing with life after losing four of the team’s top five scorers.
Brigan Wymer scored a team-high 16 vs. Ohio State and Laney Lewis was one rebound shy of a double-double versus the Buckeyes. Ursuline has six new freshmen -- all from the state of Ohio -- heading into 2015-16.
No. 6 Alderson Broaddus Battlers
Head Coach: Steve Tierney
2014-15 Record (Overall): 7-19
2014-15 Record (G-MAC): 4-12
2014-15 All-G-MAC Returners: None
Key Departures: Nautica Davis, Erica Brooks
2015-16 Outlook: The Battlers are looking to climb up the ranks in the conference, bringing a senior class of seven to the table for 2015-16 under head coach Steve Tierney.
Rachel Ashley is a strong building block after leading AB in scoring a year ago with 11.6 points per game. But in G-MAC play, she stepped her game up along with Kaitlyn Rohlfing as they combined to average almost 23 points in league play.
Ashley had several big games as a junior, including a 32-point outburst vs. Ursuline and a 26-point outing against Waynesburg.
Sydney Shaffer was almost a double-digit scorer as a junior and her role could increase for her final season. Now a sophomore, Jordan Parker led AB in scoring in five G-MAC games as a rookie, and scored 20 in just her third career game.
AB ranked second in the league in steals per game and will try and boost its win-loss record after struggling down the stretch of 2014-15, falling in seven of eight.
No. 7 Ohio Valley Fighting Scots
Head Coach: Jazmone Turner
2014-15 Record (Overall): 6-19
2014-15 Record (G-MAC): 5-11
2014-15 All-G-MAC Returners: Ghameerah McCullers (second team)
Key Departures: Amy Brooks, Danielle Dunnagan, Meissa Ndeye Diop, Angelique Green
2015-16 Outlook: All-conference guard Ghameerah McCullers really came on down the stretch of 2014-15, scoring 29, 26 and 24 points in the last three games of OVU’s season.
McCullers emerged as the conference’s fifth-best scorer, averaging 14 points per game. She’s more than just one-dimensional though, as evidenced by an average of almost five assists per game.
Ohio Valley said a fond farewell to a core of productive seniors, including double-double threat Amy Brooks, who contributed 9.1 ppg and 8.1 rpg, the second-best rebounding mark in the league.
Also gone are double-digit scorers Danielle Dunnagan and Angelique Green while Meissa Ndeye Diop was a balanced scorer and rebounder as well.
Five of the Fighting Scots’ six wins came in the conference schedule last year and OVU would love to get out to a quicker start under new interim head coach Jazmone Turner.
No. 8 Salem International Tigers
Head Coach: Lester Harbin
2014-15 Record (Overall): 0-27
2014-15 Record (G-MAC): 0-15
2014-15 All-G-MAC Returners: None
Key Departures: Shakinah Haggins, Inkera Patterson
2015-16 Outlook: The Tigers were held winless during a frustrating 2014-15 campaign, but are getting ready for a new year with different personnel and a host of newcomers.
Samantha Aikens is the team’s top scorer from last year and brings 14.1 points per game to the table. Aikens also ramped up her play in the league schedule, pouring in 16.3 points per game in G-MAC games.
Aikens will be looking to improve her efficiency, but she’s also the G-MAC’s best ringleader in steals at 2.4 per game.
SIU was outscored by an average of almost 25 points per game last year and the Tigers would like to tighten the clamps defensively to keep games closer.
Salem International took Kentucky Wesleyan into overtime at the end of the regular season, a sign of sure improvement after the Panthers went on to be G-MAC Championship runner-up.