Wichita State visits 5-3 Kats Thursday
12/4/2013 8:36:00 AM | Women's Basketball
When All-Southland players Britni Martin and Chanice Smith took their final three point attempts and Sequeena Thomas pulled down her final rebound last season, many Bearkat women's basketball fans were concerned about prospects for the 2013-14 campaign.
Those three players each scored more than 1,000 career points and accounted for almost two-thirds of the Kats scoring during the 2013 Southland Conference championship season.
But, led by senior guard Jasmine Johnson and junior post player Angela Beadle and bolstered by an outstanding supporting cast of returning letter winners and newcomers, the Bearkat women haven't missed a beat.
In fact, they're off to a better season start than the past two squads that ended their seasons with a school record 18 wins each.
Sam Houston stands 5-3 heading into Thursday night's contest with Wichita State. The two tip off at 6:30 p.m. at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. The Shockers enter the contest with a 4-2 mark.
Only once since 1998 has a Sam Houston women's team won five of its first eight games. And the Kats are doing it in style.
Beadle leads the Southland Conference in rebounding with 10.6 boards per game. She stands fourth in the league in scoring with 10.6 points per game. She is the reigning Southland Conference women's basketball player of the week, earning the honor Monday after leading SHSU to road wins at Rice and Missouri-Kansas City.
Johnson leads the Southland in assists (5.4) and stands No. 15 in the Southland in scoring (10.6).
Both players have 30-point performances this year. Beadle scored 30 in the overtime victory at Rice. Johnson posted 31 points in a home win over Louisiana-Lafayette.
“It's been fun,” Sam Houston head coach Brenda Nichols said. “This group is great to coach and they're doing an outstanding job of playing together as a team. This year's squad has their own personality and it's great to see them growing together.”
Veteran players Jazmin Wiley and Nyha Carter fill two of the other starting roles for the 2014 Bearkats. Wiley is a junior while Carter is a senior. The pair are averaging 9.1 and 7.9 points, respectively.
True freshman point guard Taylor Dorsey has stepped into a starting role for the Bearkat women at point guard.
Sam Houston also is getting strong play off the bench from Morghen Day, Amanda Barnes, Kristina Smith and Jasmine Robinson.
Wichita State is led by Alex Harden with 15.2 points per game.
Thursday's contest with the Shockers is the only home appearance for the Bearkat women this month. Sam Houston will play at Texas on Sunday Dec. 15 and at TCU on Friday Dec. 20, then start Southland action in January with road trips to Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin. The next home Bearkat women's basketball game is Thursday, Jan. 9, against McNeese State.
