Coming off a season that saw them reach the Round of 16 at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Tournament for the first time in 10 seasons, and an NAIA national ranking of 13 in the preseason polls, expectations are high for the women’s basketball team as they begin their 2024-2025 campaign.
“Everyone knows our potential now and that we can easily do that again and go even further this year,” sophomore forward and criminal justice major Deniya Thornton said. “We know what we’re capable of and just have to work hard everyday towards that goal.”
Last year’s team posted a record of 26 wins and four losses and Thornton thinks that this year’s team could be another special one.
“Compared to last year’s team, I believe we are just as good,” she said. “We are very fast this year between all the guards and we have some great posts that run hard to the rim.”
The team finds themselves looking to replace the production of two fifth year graduate seniors in two-time Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year Sandra Cannady, who led the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game, rebounding (9.3 per game), and blocks at 1.1 per game, and guard Taylor Thomas, who led the team in assists per game (4.2), steals per game (2.4), and was second on the team in scoring at 14.6 points per game.
“We lost a lot of leadership with Sandra and Taylor leaving,” Thornton said. “And I want to try to fill the shoes for some of our stars who left.”
Thornton is one of four key returning sophomores who received substantial playing time late in the season, along with forwards Alissa O’Dell and Libby Thompson and guard Caitlin Travis. In the case of O’Dell, Thornton, and Travis, that trio had worked their way into the starting lineup by the time the NAIA tournament arrived.
“We know from last year what it takes to get to that point, so this year is about building upon the foundations from last year,” said Travis, a computer science major, who scored a career-high 25 points in the Wolf Pack’s Second Round matchup to lift them into the Round of 16.
Travis knows that while her performances last season served as a confidence booster, they mean next to nothing for the upcoming season.
“It doesn’t matter what I did last year, it matters what I do now during this season,” she said. “And I want to do everything I can to help us win games.”
The Wolf Pack were picked to finish in first place in the SSAC preseason coaches poll for the fifth consecutive season, and relish the chance to prove the voters right.
“Being picked at 1 for preseason rankings was a blessing at the end of the day,” Thornton said.
“Now we just have to live up to that number throughout the season.”
For Travis, the recognition comes with the acknowledgement that their place in the polls comes with increased expectations as well.
“We have to go out and earn it and prove it to ourselves and everyone else,” she said. “Every game we’re gonna be going out with a target on our backs, so we have to show up, do what we do, and handle business.”
The team opens the season with five of their first six games away from home, starting with a context including a top-15 showdown with LSU-Shreveport, which saw Thornton score a new career high 38 points (most by a Wolf Pack player since Jan. 2018) in a narrow 1-point loss, and three Division One opponents in the University of New Orleans, Tulane University, and the University of Louisiana.
“Getting to play some D1 schools at the beginning of the year always gets us great exposure,” Thornton said.
The matchup with Tulane on Nov. 2 will see the Wolf Pack host the Green Wave in the Den for the first time since 1972, and Travis believes an opportunity like this will pay dividends for the team for the rest of the season.
“We get to be exposed to 3 good D1 level basketball teams,” she said. “So it’s definitely gonna help us prepare for the rest of our season by having these tough opponents early on.”
