On Nov. 12, Lady Bulldogs basketball kicked off the start of the 2021-2022 season with a win against Florida Tech at the Crossover Classic hosted by the University of Tampa.
Looking to build on their prior success, the team comes into this season having won the regular-season title notching 19 wins, as well as the Gulf South Conference title last season.
The Lady Bulldogs are ranked number 19 in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) polls and number 12 in the D2 media poll.
However, the team is not satisfied with its past achievements. They are hungry for more.
“I think we build on last season by forgetting last season happened,” assistant coach Sean Blackburn said. “Nobody we play cares how good we were last season, so making sure we’re aware of that daily and attack every day with extreme attention to detail.”
This season the team returned some key players like their dominant post player and last year’s conference player of the year, Jaelencia Williams.
Another key player to watch for this year is Liberty University (LU) graduate transfer Ashtyn Baker. The agile point guard played a pivotal role at LU, leading her team to a Big South title as a freshman while being named freshman player of the year. Baker shined in her first game in a Lady Bulldogs jersey posting 17 points and knocking down three three-pointers.
“I think one thing that’s really special about this team is the culture,” Baker said. “Everyone values things that go beyond winning and ultimately, that will help us to win games down the stretch.”
The Lady Bulldogs are very close-knit and think of one another more as a family than a team.
“Coach Campbell does a good job of making it a Christ-like environment which turns into a family environment,” Blackburn said. “The girls genuinely care about one another and keep it honest with each other.”
Another key component of this team is last year’s leading scorer in points-per-game, Shanique Lucas. The junior from Papua New Guinea comes off an impressive 18.4 PPG season and was named the Most Outstanding Player in last year’s tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs also brought Samariah Thompson, a transfer from Rogers State University. While there, Thompson sunk 23 three-pointers and was also atop the team’s best free-throw shooters going 103 out of 132 from the stripe.
Taking a key leadership position on this team is senior Emily Beard who is a lethal sharpshoot from the three-point line. She matched Baker’s points in the season opener with 17 points, going an efficient 5 of 8 from the three-point line.
“I think one of the most important things for us this year is to focus on being consistent: consistent in the details of the game, our preparation for the game and consistent in playing in the way we know we’re capable of,” Baker said.
Photo by Union University Athletics.