After the final buzzer sounded on the Salukis’ 88-48 loss to the Illinois State Redbirds in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball tournament last March, the questions started flying. Will superstar forward Gift Uchenna transfer elsewhere? Will head coach Kelly Bond-White return? How do you bounce back from a 4-26 season?
We got some answers during the offseason. Uchenna ended up transferring to University of Wisconsin, and Bond-White is returning for the fourth year of her five-year contract. That last question is one we can only begin to answer after the team’s season opener Tuesday, Nov. 4 at home vs. Division II foe Lewis University.
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It will largely be the same team trying to turn it around. Although Uchenna and five others left last year’s squad, eight players return. Bond-White rounded out the roster with five new transfers from other institutions.
There are drawbacks and strengths to returning that many players from a team that didn’t perform well last season. An obvious concern is the fact those players struggled to perform last year, so why would this year be any different? It’s a valid question considering one of the people leaving is among the most dominant players in school history, another was the senior leader, and another was arguably the most reliable three-point shooting option.
In response, an important consideration is that while there are eight returning players from last year’s roster, three of them saw limited or no on-court action last year. Graduate guard Jeniah Thompson was battling a shoulder injury throughout the campaign and only played in eight games. Senior guard Karris Allen and junior center Angela Samuel both missed the entire season with injuries of their own. If those three are healthy heading into the year, the Salukis have three weapons at their disposal they had to holster last season.
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This was also an incredibly young team last year. Of the 12 players that saw action last year, half were freshmen. Not to mention guards Kayla Cooper and Tkiyah Nelson were both only sophomores. Now those players have an entire year of Division I basketball under their belts, and they’re bound to improve.
That said, Allen, Thompson, and Georgia Southern transfer forward Indya Green are the only seniors on the team. It’s still a young group , just not nearly as young as last year.
Another concern is that of the five-player transfer class, only Green and Oral Roberts transfer guard Alayna Kraus have previous NCAA experience. Guards Kynnedi Davis and Hiba Malkawi come from the junior college level, and center Carmen Morales spent last season with Benedictine College in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
The Salukis are again trotting out a relatively young and inexperienced squad. Did they learn enough from last year to dramatically improve? There’s only one way to find out: wait and see, starting with the season opener Tuesday, Nov. 4, at home against Division II Lewis University at 11 a.m.
Sports reporter Eli Hoover can be found at [email protected] or on Instagram at @hoovermakesart
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