By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Randi Henderson always has put the team first, even when it comes to starting the basketball season.
“As a returner, am I ready for Sunday? Yes,” Henderson said after Missouri Southern’s 69-48 exhibition victory Wednesday night over Livin’ The Dream. “But this team needs three days of practice, so it can wait. It can wait.
“Are we excited? I think so. Do we know what it’s going to take? I can’t answer that question, but Sunday will.”
The Lions tip off their women’s basketball season at 2 p.m. today on the road against Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Okla. Under NCAA rules, today is the first allowable day for Division II teams to schedule games.
Northeastern State, however, has already played three games in the Disney Classic — a schedule-exempt tournament the NCAA allows teams once every three years.
The RiverHawks, picked third in the Lone Star Conference North Division behind two-time defending division winner Central Oklahoma and Southeastern Oklahoma State, went 2-1 in the Disney, losing 67-66 to nationally ranked Gannon (Pa.) before beating North Alabama 78-39 and Shippensburg (Pa.) 61-60.
Alix Perkins, 5-foot-8 sophomore guard, and Sarah Millar, 5-9 senior guard, averaged 13.7 and 10.3 points, respectively, in NSU’s first three games.
The Lions don’t need as much preseason practice as possible because they lack talent. By contrast, the Lions have perhaps the most talent they’ve had in Maryann Mitts’ nine years as head coach. But much of that talent comes from nine new players who are learning a new system.
“The girls are working hard,” Mitts said. “They are trying. It’s just so much knowledge. I keep saying ‘play harder, play harder,’ and for some of these girls, this is as hard as they’ve ever played.
“I wish I could push fast-forward, but I can’t. I have to watch the learning process evolve.”
Henderson is the Lions’ lone returning starter and joins senior guard Jolea Apon and sophomore forward Michelle Hedgecock as the only returnees from last year. Junior forward Brittany Vavao-Huggins will join the team after the volleyball season.
Henderson, in fact, is the only player who’s been on the squad for more than one year.
“Isn’t that crazy,” she said. “It’s completely different. It’s different in a way you have to get young women to believe in what it’s going to take. They don’t understand right now. They might look at somebody else going hard and say I don’t have to go that hard. Yes, you do. You really do.”
The Lions have six junior college transfers — guards Tercya Ferreira, Danielle Harris, Jasmine Lovejoy and Afton Baldwin and front-court players LaTice Jones and Lindsay Rujawitz. Ferreira is familiar with the Lions’ system, having played for ex-Lions Jaime Green and Robin Kantin at Labette Community College.
Incoming freshmen are all-staters Kelby Fritz and Erin Rice along with Myriah Hicks and Natasha Scruggs. Scruggs, however, underwent knee surgery last week.
“It’s one of the most talented teams I’ve had in my career here,” Henderson said. “However, with nine new players and Jolea and Michelle only having been here for a year, talent is not enough. We have a lot more to achieve than just having talent.”
