Matchup:
Rollins opens the season against Union (Tenn.) and West
Florida at the Spartan Challenge Tournament, hosted by Tampa.
When:
Nov. 13 - Rollins vs. No. 13 Union (Tenn.) - 5 p.m.
Nov. 14 - Rollins vs. (RV) West Florida- 5 p.m.
Where:
Martinez Center - Tampa, Fla.
This is the sixth-straight season Rollins has opened the season
with a road tournament, going 9-8 at the events. Fans can follow
all the action live on the Geico Tars Sports Network at
RollinsSports.com.
ROLLINS AT A GLANCE: Rollins was picked third
in the SSC preseason coaches rankings, right behind defending
league champion Tampa and 2015 national quarterfinalist Nova
Southeastern. Two votes separate Nova Southeastern with second
place Tampa. The Spartans received 58 votes and three first place
votes. The Tars finished third in the poll with 47 votes.
For the second consecutive year, the Tars were ranked in the
WBCA Top-25 in every poll of the regular season in 2014-15, rising
as high as No. 10 midway through the year. Rollins rode the senior
trio of Ashley Losch, Emmalee Schill and Sarah
Taylor to a 22-7 season, their seventh straight 20-win
season, and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Back for the Tars this year are two starters and seven
letterwinners. 2013-14 Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the
Year Tanaya
Jones and 2014-15 All-SSC newcomer Julia
Ingler headline the group of returners. Seniors Cassidy
Bailey and Jen
Farrell along with juniors Marie
Gilbert and Brittany
Betts will also be vital to Rollins' success early in the
season. Jasmine
Stone also returns for her sophomore year after averaging 3.3
points and 1.7 rebounds in 13.2 minutes per game a year ago.
The Tars played a pair of exhibitions to gear up for the regular
season, cruising past Daytona State before thumping Keiser, 58-37
on Sunday. Ingler and newcomber Kasey
Drayton led the way for Rollins with nine points each. Gilbert
added eight points while Bailey finished with six points and a game
high seven rebounds. Three others hauled in six rebounds each as
all 13 players saw significant minutes for the Tars in their last
preseason tune-up.
Glenn Wilkes
Jr. (Stetson '81) is in his 30th year leading the Tars. Wilkes
is the winningest coach in Sunshine State Conference history,
winning a record 13 regular season titles and eight SSC Tournament
Championships. His career record of 650-213 heading into the
2015-16 season ranks ninth best among active coaches in Division II
and 14th all-time. He has the sixth most victories in
the history of Division II and ranks 34th all-time covering all
divisions. Wilkes' winning percentage (.754) is the 33rd best among
active coaches in all NCAA Divisions.
UNION AT A GLANCE: Union University opens the
year ranked No. 13 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association
(WBCA) Preseason Poll. Union ended the 2014-15 season ranked No.
10.
Union finished 28-4 last season and won the Gulf South Conference
Regular Season and Tournament Titles. The Lady Bulldogs earned the
No. 1 seed in the NCAA DII South Region Tournament, losing in the
region finals to Nova Southeastern. The Bulldogs are entering their
second season as active members of NCAA Division II and the Gulf
South Conference.
Union will look to replace four starters lost to graduation a
year, including NCAA DII National Player of the Year finalist, Amy
Philamlee. Philamlee led division II in scoring (24.7) and was
second in the nation in assists per game (7.9).
Union's lone returning starter from last season is senior Kelsey
Risner. Risner was named a member of the GSC Preseason
All-Conference Team. Risner averaged 11.8 points per game last
season and collected 8.3 rebounds a night. She led the team with 92
made 3-pointers, hitting at a 40-percent clip. Chelsea Bodiford is
also back after scoring 5.8 points per game off the bench in
2014-15.
Union was voted by the GSC coaches to repeat as the conference
champs this season, receiving 93 total points in the preseason poll
and three first place votes.
Mark Campbell was named the women's basketball head coach for
Union University in 1999. Campbell is currently in his 17th season
as the head coach of the Lady Bulldogs. Campbell led the Bulldogs
to NAIA National Titles in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and a NCCAA
National Title in 2014.
WEST FLORIDA AT A GLANCE: Coming off a
second-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the University of
West Florida women's basketball team was picked to finish second in
the 2015-16 Gulf South Conference preseason poll.
In a near tie for the top spot, the Argonauts received 92 points,
including a league-high six first place votes to come in just
behind defending champion Union, which tallied 93 points and three
votes for the top spot.
In addition to the coaches poll, the group also made their choices
on a preseason all-conference team, which featured UWF sophomore
Toni Brewer and senior Jasmine Wigfall. Brewer is the reigning GSC
Freshman of the Year after the guard from Huntsville, Ala. averaged
11.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in 2014-15. Wigfall chipped
in 12.1 points, 5.8 boards and 2.6 assists a night last season. The
Orlando native was second in the GSC in scoring a year ago.
Fourth-year head coach Stephanie Yelton has four starters and
eight letterwinners back from last year's 20-win squad that
finished second in the GSC regular season. Yelton was named the
West Florida women's basketball team's new head coach on April 26,
2012. Yelton is the fourth head coach in UWF women's basketball
history. In three seasons at UWF, she's returned UWF to a regional
power by winning a Gulf South Conference championship and returning
UWF to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons.
THE SERIES: Friday's meeting is the
first between Union and Rollins while the Tars are 2-3
all-time against UWF. Rollins knocked off the Argonauts in their
last meeting, 60-52, back in 2003.
NEXT UP FOR ROLLINS: The Tars will return to
Winter Park for the next four games. First on the schedule is the
home opener against Tampa, Saturday, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. Fans can
catch all the action live on the Geico Tars Sports Network at
RollinsSports.com.
