It’s that time of the year, sports fans, to once again say hello to Saint Louis University’s very own divas of the hard-court. Break out the basketballs and lace up the high-tops, because SLU women’s basketball is back for another season, and it’s going to be an incredible ride.
The Billikens are coming off a 16-15 campaign from last year and a second round exit in the Conference USA tournament, but the return of almost the entire team from last year guarantees that they will be a force in C-USA and on the national front as well.
Leading the team will be Bills’ point guard Star Jackson. She was voted a team captain for this year and brings a lot of experience back to the team. Jackson led the team in minutes played last season and in the process took over the seventh slot on SLU’s all-time assist list.
“Star runs the team; she is our floor leader out there,” Pizzotti said.
Jackson is one of six returning seniors for the Bills this year, which is a far cry from last year’s team, which did not have one senior. Fellow seniors Greta Bujaker, Harmonie King and Melissa Oliver will accompany Jackson in leading the Bills’ backcourt while seniors Shanda Greer, LaKia Jones and Amie Van Duerzen will play in the front court. All six seniors will be relied on heavily if the Bills plan on playing in the NCAA tournament at the end of the year, which is their main goal.
“This is their last opportunity to find ways to get it done,” Pizzotti said.
The junior class returns four players to the Bills’ squad this year led by last year’s leading scorer and rebounder Angie Lewis. Lewis was named to the third team All-Conference USA and was the team MVP last year.
The other three returning juniors are guards Jana Haywood, Kirsti Holloway and center Stephanie Solomon.
“Jana and Kirsti are our best perimeter shooters,” Pizzotti said. “Stephanie is in the best shape of her career. She runs the floor well and has good size.”
Pizzotti has not named a starting lineup for the Bills yet, but with good reason. This Billiken team is extremely deep, which will be helpful for the team down the stretch, but has caused the team’s starting lineup to remain uncertain.
“Other than point, every position is open, which is a nice position to be in,” Pizzotti said.
The Bills had a strong recruiting class coming in this fall. Lakrisha Brown is a 6-foot-3-inch freshman who runs the floor and jumps well.
“Lakrisha is like a sponge–she just soaks everything up. She rebounds and defends well also,” Pizzotti said.
Also new to the Bills’ squad this year is Shea Kenny. Kenny will help backup Jackson at the point and is competing for time at the off-guard position.
“Shea has great floor awareness and will be a great asset to this team when she learns the system well,” Pizzotti said.
The third member of the incoming recruiting class is Rachel Diener. She is recovering from a knee surgery which will have her sidelined up until early next year. She is the cousin of Bills’ men’s basketball player Drew Diener. Her brother, Travis, plays ball at Marquette and another cousin, Drake, plays basketball at DePaul.
The Bills start the regular season next Friday at home against Dayton and then will play host to Loyola on Monday. After that they will travel down to the San Juan Shootout for a three game tournament, where they will face Army, followed by a game against a local team from Puerto Rico and then they will finish off the tournament with a game against the storied Tennessee Volunteers.
“Everybody seems to be talking about us early this year because of the Tennessee game,” Pizzotti said. “It will give us a chance to see how we stack up against one of the three best programs in the country, and a top-three team this year.”
After San Juan, the team will square off in a series of games against regional rivals and national powers, including games against in-state foes Southwest Missouri State and University of Missouri-Colombia, as well as games against Michigan and Miami-Ohio.
After the New Year, the games start to get a little more interesting and a lot more important. The Bills start their C-USA schedule against Memphis and, hopefully, the season will not end for the Bills until sometime around the end of March.
“Our goal is to go to the NCAA tournament, plain and simple,” Pizzotti said.
Last year, half of the teams in C-USA went to post-season play, either the NCAA tournament or the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), which goes to show that C-USA is a strong conference and will be tough to compete in. However, that also bodes well for the Bills post-season aspirations.
“In this conference, you don’t have to finish first to move on,” Pizzotti said.
Aside from the Bills, the teams in C-USA competing for the top honors, at least as far as pre-season rankings go, will be Cincinnati, Texas Christian and Tulane.
“This team has the potential to accomplish the best year in the history of Billiken women’s basketball,” said Pizzotti.
