Nov. 15, 2005

ABILENE, Texas - You know your program has high expectations, when you have a 22-4 record, win the American Southwest Conference West Division, and your season was considered a disappointment.

Hardin-Simmons' women's basketball team is looking to rebound from the 2005 season that saw them fail to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years. It was not the coaching staff or fans that were most disappointed last season - it was the players.

"They talk a lot about it not being a successful year unless you win a conference championship and compete in the NCAA Tournament," said fourth-year head coach Shanna Briggs. "It's a huge motivation. Our girls were extremely disappointed when their name was not called last year. They have focused on that and used it in the offseason, in the preseason and now that we are getting ready for games as motivation to get better."

The Cowgirls return several significant players and have added a former all-ASC player to the mix and expect to be back in the hunt for the NCAA Tournament.

"This team is one that is not there yet, but we can be by the end of the year," said Briggs. "We will improve each game as we become more familiar with each other. We have depth at every position and we are more talented athletically. Maybe most of all they work extremely hard and they enjoy being around each other. We have high expectations, our goal obviously is to win conference and get back to the NCAA Tournament."

For the Cowgirls to meet their lofty goals they will have to get some solid production out of a trio at point guard. Sarah Hauk, Rachel Cisneroz and Shanika Conaway are battling it out for the starting job and they have the job of getting the ball to the Cowgirl scorers.

"We don't have a ton of experience at point guard," said Briggs. "As far as game experience it is our least experienced position on the floor. Sarah played some last year and hopefully that will benefit us early in the season.

They are all three pushing each other every day in practice. They all three bring different things to the team. I think Sarah will start out with the position, but she will feel pressure from Shanika and Rachel."

Junior Lyssa Dennard is making the move from the small forward to shooting guard this season. She is one of the top players in the conference and at 5-10 will give the Cowgirls a huge height advantage on the perimeter. Dennard averaged 11.8 points per game and was among the conference leaders in steals. She also hit 26 3-pointers.

She will be backed up by the two Lindsays - Thompson and Steinberger. Thompson is one of the top shooters in the conference and hit 43.5 percent of her 3-pointers last season coming off the bench. Steinberger can shoot and put the ball on the floor and is a solid defender.

"We have depth at that position. Lyssa is such a good defender and she can really score," said Briggs. "The two Lindsays are doing a great job. Steinberger has really started to play more under control and is fighting hard for minutes. We know that Thompson can shoot as good as anybody."

Shelby Hodges will play the small forward position for the Cowgirls to better use her versatility. Hodges averaged 5.4 points and 3.6 rebounds, but really came on strong the last third of the season and those numbers are expected to go way up.

"Shelby is just as good if not better posting up as she is facing the basket," Briggs said. "She can score in a lot of ways, is a good passer and should really help our offense. I expect great things out of her this year."

Sophomore Rachael Singletary will also battle for time at the small forward position after transferring to HSU from Baylor. Junior Laci Walker, and freshmen Mollie Brawner and Kristen Harris will also battle for time on the wing.

For the first time in recent memory the Cowgirls have depth in the frontcourt. Melissa Henley returns for her junior campaign after averaging 14.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game last season. She will be joined up front by junior transfer Sonya West.

The former McMurry standout averaged over 18 points per game in her first two seasons across town. West was an all-ASC and all-region performer each of his first two years.

The Cowgirls also will receive a boost as Magna Green returns after sitting out most of the season with a torn ACL. She gives the Cowgirls some much needed muscle in the post. She averaged 7.5 points and 6.2 rebounds before her injury last year. Sophomore Jamie Jones is also back after stepping up off the junior varsity to give the Cowgirls a spark in the post down the stretch last season. Freshman Kara Martin also gives the Cowgirls another talented option in the post.

"I am excited about our post game," said Briggs. "We have five players in there that can bang, get rebounds and really change the game for us. They will be the strength of this team. Last year when Magna got hurt we did not have a lot of depth and we had to try to patch it with undersized players. This year we have depth in the frontcourt."

The Cowgirls do not have a true senior on the team, but Briggs does not see that as a huge issue, because the strong junior class has played so much.

"We have so many girls, especially the junior class that was just thrown in there and they had to play early. They had to be an impact on our program in their first year and they were. So even though we don't have any seniors we have a lot of game experience.

Hardin-Simmons' run of domination in the American Southwest Conference came to an end last season and it appears that the league is getting stronger each year.

"Howard Payne is very good, McMurry is talented and Mary Hardin-Baylor is right there. The other teams are getting stronger. There is not a gimme game in the league anymore. We have to play at a high level to win the conference, but that is our goal. If you don't take care of business every night, you are going to be in trouble.

The Cowgirls brought in a strong recruiting class, but with so many veterans their need to be in the game may be limited.

"I think all of our newcomers will help us. They all of strong attributes, but they have time to develop. They go up against good players every day and they are all improving. It is a good thing to not have to rely on freshmen, but if they continue to develop they can fill a role for us. Like I said we are deep at every position and have a lot of experience."

With that depth and experience look for the Cowgirls to be back were they think they belong and that is making a deep NCAA Tournament run in March.