October 21st, 2009
(Photo of Tamisha Timpson by Drew Engelke)
RICHARDSON, Texas – The Texas Lutheran women’s basketball team, coming off a seven-game improvement in the 2008-09 season, is the fifth pick in the American Southwest Conference West Division Preseason Poll.
The poll was released after a vote of each division’s head coaches, sports information directors and media members.
Hardin-Simmons was chosen as the favorite in the ASC West Division, and the University of Texas at Dallas was picked as the favorite in the ASC East Division.
Howard Payne, the 2007-08 national champion for NCAA Division III and the defending American Southwest Conference champion, was the second pick in the ASC West Division. The Lady Yellow Jackets have won four of the last five conference titles.
Preseason player of the year honors went to Hardin-Simmons center Lindsey Newcombe (ASC West) and Louisiana College forward Tillisha Givens (ASC East).
TLU, under the direction of second-year head coach Roxanne Long, returns 10 letter winners from last season’s squad.
TLU’s seven wins in 2008-09 were more than the program’s combined win total from the three previous seasons. Long and the Bulldogs produced an overall record of 7-18 with a conference mark of 5-15.
For taking a winless program and producing seven wins in her first year, Long was named the 2008-09 American Southwest Conference West Division Co-Coach of the Year.
Long and forward Tamisha Timpson (San Antonio/Roosevelt) were among last season’s individual award winners. Long shared the coaching honor with Concordia Texas head coach Steve Cochran, and Timpson snagged the ASC West Freshman of the Year honor.
Timpson led the Bulldogs in scoring, at 10.8 per game. She was second on the team in rebounding (7.0 rpg) and in shooting percentage (.447). She also recorded 48 steals, 16 blocks and 50 assists. In addition to the Freshman of the Year honor, Timpson also was named to the ASC West Division Freshman Team.
Timpson was joined on the All-West Division Freshman Team by fellow Bulldog Kim Hagan (Houston/Cypress Creek). Hagan was second on the team in scoring, at 9.7 points per game. She made a team-best 45 three-pointers and added 4.1 rebounds per game, 26 assists and 27 steals.
Seven of TLU’s top eight scorers from 2008-09 were first-year players last season. The seven sophomores all return for the Bulldogs in 2009-10.
Key returners for TLU in 2009-10 include: sophomore point guards Amy Doyle (Houston/Jersey Village) and Jocelyn Langford (Omaha, Neb./San Antonio Clark), junior guard Courtney Goodman (Ft. Worth/Keller Central/Southwestern Oklahoma), sophomore guard Jennifer Munoz (San Antonio/Brackenridge), sophomore guard/forward Pearl Kafoa (Keller/Keller Central), and sophomore center Rebecca Valdez (McAllen/McAllen).
Munoz, Kafoa, Doyle, Langford and Valdez each averaged more than five points a game last season. Langford led the team in assists, with 101, and Doyle added 95 assists with a team-best 49 steals. Munoz paced the team in three-point shooting percentage (.343), and Valdez led TLU in field goal percentage (.460). Kafoa was second on the team in three-pointers made, with 34.
Hardin-Simmons, which went 22-6 overall and 16-5 in league play last season on its way to reaching the title game in the ASC Championship Tournament, totaled 177 points and picked up 12 of the possible 24 West Division first-place votes in the annual poll. Head coach Shanna Briggs’ Cowgirls led the league in scoring last season at 77.2 points per game. HSU won seven straight ASC titles from 1998-2004.
Defending West Division champion McMurry University (21-6, 17-4 ASC) landed in the third-place spot with 142 points and two first-place votes. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (14-13, 12-9) totaled 129 points and picked up the final two first-place votes to round out what would be the division’s four teams to qualify for the ASC tournament.
Concordia University Texas (93 pts.) was predicted to finish fifth, followed by TLU (75 pts.), Schreiner University (49 pts.) and Sul Ross State University (30 pts.).
Texas-Dallas, which went 21-5 overall and 18-2 in league play in 2008-09 to win its first ever East Division title, totaled 132 points and 12 of the possible 21 first-place votes to narrowly be the favorite ahead of Mississippi College in the East Division poll.
Head coach Polly Thomason’s Comets also earned their first ever national ranking last year and became the first team in 39 tries to defeat Howard Payne. UTD also completed a regular-season sweep against the West Division.
Mississippi College (22-5, 17-3 ASC) was predicted to finish in second place with 131 points and seven top-spot votes. The Lady Choctaws received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament last season. Louisiana College (16-9, 12-8 ASC) was the third-place pick with 93 points and received the final two first-place votes.
The University of Texas at Tyler (15-11, 12-8 ASC) garnered 89 points and rounded out what would be the division’s four league tournament qualifiers. East Texas Baptist University (75 pts.) was picked to finish fifth, followed by LeTourneau University (35 pts.) and University of the Ozarks (33 pts.).
Hardin-Simmons’ Newcombe (Keller, TX / Keller), a 6-2 junior center, was named ASC West Division Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 17.3 points, 13.8 rebounds and three blocked shots per game. Her rebounding and blocked shot averages were ASC-highs and the totals (385 rebounds, 83 blocks) set new ASC single-season records.
Louisiana College’s Givens (Monroe, LA / Ouachita Parish HS), a 5-9 junior guard/forward, was named ASC East Division Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight time. She averaged 17.4 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game in 2008-09. Givens also logged the third-most minutes per game in the league (36.5).
Newcombe and Givens both earned division player of the year honors in 2008-09 and were members of the five-player ASC All-Conference Team. They also landed on their respective division’s first team.
The 2009-10 season – the 14th in league history – begins as early as Nov. 15. The three-day, eight-team, single-elimination conference tournament is slated for February 26-28 at the site of the East Division’s top seed. An automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship will be on the line at the conference tournament.
2009-10 ASC PRESEASON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POLL
[Voted on by ASC Head Coaches, Sports Information Directors and Media Members]
WEST DIVISION
Team (first-place votes) Points 2008-09 Record
1. Hardin-Simmons (12) 177 22-6, 16-5 ASC
2. Howard Payne (8) 169 23-6, 16-5 ASC
3. McMurry (2) 142 21-6, 17-4 ASC
4. Mary Hardin-Baylor (2) 129 14-13, 12-9 ASC
5. Concordia Texas 93 11-12, 11-10 ASC
6. Texas Lutheran 75 7-18, 5-16 ASC
7. Schreiner 49 2-23, 2-19 ASC
8. Sul Ross State 30 1-23, 1-20 ASC
EAST DIVISION
Team (first-place votes) Points 2008-09 Record
1. Texas-Dallas (12) 132 21-5, 18-2 ASC
2. Mississippi College (7) 131 22-5, 17-3 ASC
3. Louisiana College (2) 93 16-9, 12-8 ASC
4. Texas-Tyler 89 15-11, 12-8 ASC
5. East Texas Baptist 75 9-16, 8-12 ASC
6. LeTourneau 35 5-20, 4-16 ASC
7. Ozarks 33 5-20, 3-17 ASC
2009-10 ASC PRESEASON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
[Voted on by ASC Head Coaches, Sports Information Directors and Media Members]
WEST DIVISION
Lindsey Newcombe, C, Jr., Hardin-Simmons
EAST DIVISION
Tillisha Givens, G/F, Jr., Louisiana College