Wildcats Tipoff In Austin

Tournament Central

Abilene Christian (0-0) vs. Hillsdale College (0-0)
St. Edward's Classic • Nov. 12-13, 2010

Tip-Off: Friday - 12 p.m.; Saturday – 2:30 p.m.

Arena: Recreation and Convocation Center
Audio/Video: St. Edward's Game Day Central
Live Stats: St. Edward's

Rankings: both teams are unranked

Series: ACU leads the series 7-1

Coaches:

ACU: Shawna Lavender (SMU '97) 126-81 overall (8thseason)

St. Edward's: Jennifer White (Louisiana Tech '83) (8th season)

Hillsdale: Claudette Charney (Grand Valley State) 467-260 overall (27th season)

AUSTIN – Head Coach Shawna Lavender and the ACU women's basketball team tipoff at the St. Edward's Classic in Austin for the second straight year. Last year the Wildcats went 1-1 at the St. Edward's Classic to open the season.

ACU dropped a 69-66 effort to St. Mary's a NCAA Tournament team a year ago and Heartland Conference Champions. The Wildcats rebounded to take a 10-point win from the host Hilltoppers 72-62, as Jamie Meyer paced the Wildcats with 29 points in the win.

The Wildcats enter the 2010 St. Edward's Classic with a host of new faces. After losing some of the best basketball players to don ACU jersey's head coach Shawna Lavender has the task of filling three big spots on her roster. Twin sisters Jamie and Jody Meyer combined for nearly 2,000 career points and 1,400 rebounds while Kat Kundmueller is all-time assist lead at ACU.

With only one starter returning who saw action, Senior Autumn Whitaker, leads a group with plenty new faces. A group of five sophomores saw limited action last year as Cecilee Perez, Emily Miller, Dainelle Hartley, Shelby Shipley, and Kendall Siess return with a year of experience under their belt.

For the Wildcats senior leadership will come in Whitaker who stands as the only senior on the team. Most nights the Whitaker will draw the top defensive match-up and play primarily on the wing.

“Autumn is our team leader and we really expect a lot from her,” said Lavender. “She's improved all parts of her game becoming a better shooter, but what for us to be successful we need her to lead this team and just play solid.”

Alongside Whitaker, Miller will help lead the posts as she gained valuable experience backing up both Meyer's averaging a little over 7 minutes per game. However, taking over the big shoes will not be left solely up to Miller as Lavender adds transfers Kelsey Smith (6-2, so. Missouri State) and Sarah Reno (6-1, jr. Collin County).

Smith saw limited playing time in her freshman season at Missouri Valley power, Missouri State. Smith enters her first season at ACU in the post rotation seeing action at both the four and five spots. At 6-2 she will add height to a shorter Wildcat team in the post. She also played high school ball with Shipley at Coppell.

Joining the other posts is Sarah Reno who comes to ACU from Collin County Community College in Plano. Reno will add to the post depth and will tandem with Smith and Miller at both the four and five spots.

A number of new faces will accompany Whitaker at the wing spots with sophomore Danielle Hartley and freshman Hillari Adam. Adam comes into her first season with the Wildcats being very fundamentally sound for a freshman. She should see action in the post as well as on the wings.

Hartley enters her second season at ACU developing into a true shooting guard for the Wildcats.

“Dainelle has done a good job of learning how to create her own shot and shooting off the dribble,” Lavender said. “She is a great shooter and will help us behind the three point line, but she's doing a great job of being that all-around scorer for us.”

Also competing at the shooting guard spot is Cecilee Perez who saw the most action of the sophomore class last season. Perez averaged 2.7 points per game in 10 minutes of play in 23 games for the Wildcats. She also showed signs of being a great scorer and creating her own shot.

“Perez did a good job playing both guard positions last year and she'll be asked to do the same this year. But I think you'll see her more at the shooting guard spot. She has really done a good job this summer working on her shot and she has a great ability to score.”

Also working at both guard spots will be sophomore Shelby Shipley and freshman Renata Marquez and Mack Lankford. Shipley could see time also at the wings as her athletic ability and speed make her valuable at both positions.

“Shelby does a great job playing defense and her speed will help us get her out on the floor. It could also be a good break to spell Autumn and not lose a step,” said Lavender.

Lankford and Marquez will both add scoring to the Wildcat frontcourt as Lankford is an extremely fast and athletic guard. She also has really good range and could add a three point threat to the Wildcat offense.

Marquez could see playing time at both guard spots as well as some post and create matchup problems for opposing teams. She is also solid defensively which is always a good sign for young players seeing playing time.

Splitting time at the point guard position for the Wildcats will be a pair of freshman Savannah Smith and Tamenia Jourdan. Smith is a very knowledgeable guard and will make good decisions at the point, hoping to cut down on turnovers. Jourdan will add speed and more defense to an already quick Wildcat team as well as handling the ball well under pressure.

ACU opens the season this weekend at the St. Edward's Tournament in Austin. The Wildcats tipoff against Hillsdale on Friday and will finish the weekend on Saturday against host St. Edward's.

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