Oct. 17, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team opened practice for the 2008-09 season with a three-hour workout Friday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.

Samford head coach Mike Morris said the practice was a productive one as his team prepares for its first season in the Southern Conference.

"I think, overall, it was a good practice," Morris said. "I think we definitely had too many moments where we were sloppy. But, that's normal for this time of year. It was a good, spirited practice. We were able to get a lot of work in."

Morris said he likes the mix of younger players with more experienced players on this year's team.

"We have a great mix of experienced players with brand new players, including four freshmen," Morris said. "That also includes Megan (Wilderotter) who is back after missing most of last year. So, overall, it was a good, solid practice, but definitely way too sloppy."

Morris said the four freshmen on the team showed some positive signs in their first college practice.

"All four of them had their moments," Morris said. "They did pretty well at times. Overall, they did a good job of giving the effort we needed. The effort was very good, they just have to learn a lot of the details of what we are doing."

Morris added that Friday night's practice was a little more competitive than his normal season-opening practice.

"There was some teaching, but we also had some competition," Morris said. "I didn't want to go through the first practice without really making it competitive in certain areas. We were able to do that and I think that is one of the reasons it got sloppy.

"We did some teaching, but we probably did a little more competitive stuff than we normally do on the first day," Morris said. "Then, we will back track and do a little more teaching over the next few days."

Samford is coming off the most successful season in program history. Last season, the Bulldogs posted a program-record 23 wins (23-9), and went 15-5 in its final season in the Ohio Valley Conference, good for a second-place regular-season finish.

Samford returns six of the top eight scorers off last year's team. Emily London, who was named the 2008 OVC Freshman of the year, led the team in scoring last year with an average of 12.2 points per game. Monica Maxwell (10.7 ppg.) and Savannah Hill (9.8 ppg.) followed London as the team's leading scorers.

Hill was the Bulldogs' leading rebounder last year, pulling down 4.6 boards per contest. Chika Okoli was second in rebounding, with an average of 4.1 rebounds per game.

Samford welcomes four newcomers to the team this year as well. The four signees for this season are Paige Anderson (G, 5-7, Piedmont, Ala.), J'Quita Babineaux (F, 5-11, Springfield, Va.), Jazmine Powers (G, 5-4, Decatur, Ala.) and Erin Hogue (F, 5-11, Birmingham, Ala.).

The Bulldogs will practice again Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in the Pete Hanna Center.