Basketball season is almost here again and this year’s team is full of young, potential stars.
The women’s basketball team opens play tonight against Fort Hays State, but has a tougher road to the gold as the season progresses.
Out of the 10 players on the team, only two are seniors including preseason Wooden Award Candidate Ashley Sweat. Sweat was the team’s leading scorer last year with 16.5 points per game and is one of seven returning letter winners.
The other senior, Kari Kincaid will look to distribute the ball more than last year. She led the team with 1.6 assists and only needs 10 3-point field goals to move into 10th place on the list.
She made a career high 59 3-point field goals last year.
The backcourt includes three newcomers including Brittany Chambers, Taelor Karr and Mariah White. This will be the smallest team roster for K-State since the 2006-07 campaign.
The season opens with five games at home, two of which are exhibition games. The team will also compete in a pair of tournaments before facing conference teams.
The Wildcats will participate in the Commerce Bank Wildcat Classic at home and Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas, Nev. The first big conference test for the Wildcats will be later in the season when they face in state rival Kansas on Jan. 9. The Jayhawks are ranked 20th in the preseason poll.
K-State will also face No. 12 Texas on the road and No. 13 Oklahoma comes to town this year. The good news for the Wildcats is that they will not have to go up against former Sooner Courtney Paris, who graduated last year.
K-State will look to continue their national success in pursuit of a 12th NCAA Tournament appearance. They finished with a third best 25 wins last season.
The team will make seven television appearances during the upcoming season. Three of them will be in front of a national audience. All the televised games will be on FSN or FSN Kansas City.
The last home game is March 6 against Nebraska. K-State will then face off in the Big 12 Tournament on March 11-14 in Kansas City, Mo.
Head coach Deb Patterson is in her 14th season. She has a record of 265-146 and is the all-time winningest women’s basketball coach in school history.
LEADING RETURNS:
#4 Ashley Sweat – Senior foward
Preseason Wooden Award Candidate
15th in K-State history with 1,291 career points
2009 All-Big 12 first team selection
Fourth in Big 12 with 16.5 points per game last season
#41 Kari Kincaid – Senior guard
Two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection
11th in K-State history in 3-pointers made (102) and attempted (303)
Second leading returner from last season with eight points per game
NEWCOMERS:
#2 Brittany Chambers – Freshman guard – Bell Plaine, Minn.
Two-time All-State selection at Jordan High School
2008-09 Minnesota Class 2A Player of the Year
McDonald’s All-American Nominee
#12 Taelor Karr – Freshman guard – Paola, Kan.
2009 Kansas Basketball Coaches Association All-Star
2009 Kansas All-State second team selection
Averaged 14.6 points last season at Paola High School
#22 Maria White – Freshman guard – Midwest City, Okla.
Member of 2009 Oklahoma Coaches Association All-State team
Won two national titles with AAU team of Oklahoma
Averaged 7.7 points and 3.7 rebounds last season at Midwest City High School