Season start for NGU women’s basketball
Whitley Bras, Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy by North Greenville Athletics
The women’s basketballteam at North Greenville Universityhas had a rocky start to the 2018-2019 seasonbut they plan to use those tough games to make them stronger for a successful overall season. The team just received a new head coach, Angel McGowan, who was the assistant coach last season for the crusaders. The assistant coach is now alumni and former player for the women’s basketball team Khara Herring. The duo coaching staff plans to make several changes for the team in hopes of making them and the overall program stronger and establish a positive reputation for the women’s basketball team at NGU.
There are sixteen girls on the basketball team which include, seniors: Elizabeth Trentham, Natalie Averett, Kyli Schmitt, Juniors: Karen Donehew, Ayano Shelton, Sophomores: Kira Bell, Tyana Saunders, Bree Stoddard, Savannah Hughes, Kathleen Rogers, Bailey Breazeale, and Freshman: Alexis Hall, Asia Jones, Haylee Luttrell, Journey Muhammed and Sarah Cline. The leaders of the team include most of the seniors such as Kyli Schmitt as well as Junior Karen Donehew. Donehew just received her award for obtaining one-thousand points during her career at North Greenville. She was just awarded for scoring forty points in a single game against University of South Carolina Aiken, which broke the previous record of thirty-five points. Donehew is a lead player for the team and is able to assist the team by being a top scorer. Other players such as Kira Bell and Bree Stoddard have also been able to make an impact on the team. The team has many strong individual players, and this will aid them further on into the season when they go up against other teams.
Making the transition over to head coach, Angel McGowan has high expectations for the team and knows with hard work and commitment that they will be able to do great things this season. The one thing that McGowan states is different from last year’s team is the discipline that the girls are showing this season. This includes discipline with their time, physical drive at practice, and discipline with their individual characters within the team and towards the coach. The changes that McGowan is specifically looking to make for the current season she states is, “the will to fight and never give up. Stay together always and the energy level.” There are high hopes that McGowan has for the team and it is rooted individually with all of their characters and personal love for the game.
The NGU women’s basketball team started out the year with an exhibition at College of Charleston on Nov. 7. They then participated in the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge hosted at North Greenville on Nov. 9 and 10. They received their first win of the season against Catawba College during the challenge with a 67-62 win. After that they have had two regular season games against Lander University on Nov. 14, and against University of South Carolina Aiken on Nov. 17. So far, they have one win for the season, but they are very hopeful that they will be able to turn that around and have a successful year. They are still getting acclimated with the coaching environment and new dynamic of the team. Coach McGowan states that the one thing that the team is looking forward to this year is “proving everyone wrong”. They have plenty of time this season to make their mark within the conference and show everyone what they can do. Conference play will not start until Nov. 28 against Southern Wesleyan University and their overall season will not end until Feb. 23. It is early in the season and the Crusaders of the women’s basketball team have time to improve and grow as a unit. When talking about the team McGowan states that “We’re playing better, we’re more together, and we feel like we can do it.”
The team finished fourth in their conference last year but their overall goal as a team this season is to make it to the Conference Carolinas Championship win a title for North Greenville University.
Overall, the women’s basketball team at North Greenville has just started out their 2018-2019 season and the new head coach Angel McGowan has high expectations for the team and knows that they can accomplish great things this season with hard work and discipline. Make sure to come out and support the NGU women’s basketball team as they dive into the excitement of the season. More information about the team and the season schedule can be found online.
