Tuesday, October 23, 2007

12 Days of A-Sun Basketball continues with a look at Campbell. The Camels return 12 letterwinners from the 2006-07 squad. Head coach Wanda Watkins enters her 27th season leading the Camels with 409 coaching wins. She is 37th among active coaches in wins. Only Lipscomb’s Frank Bennett has spent more time at his respective school among A-Sun coaches.

Marlena Murphy returns for her final season with Campbell. She is the leading returning rebounder in the Atlantic Sun after finishing second the Belmont’s Alysha Clark. She averaged 9.4 RPG in 2006-07. She led the Camels in scoring last season, averaging 12.1 PPG.

The Camels will be playing their final season at the Carter Gymnasium. The Carter Gymnasium has been the Camels’ home since the program started in 1972. Next season, Campbell will move into John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center and Gilbert Craig Gore Arena. Carter Gym currently ranks as the second smallest capacity (947) among Division I arenas.

Coach Wanda Watkins on the Camels

Team Page

Roster

Schedule

2006-07 Statistics

SEASON PREVIEW - (Courtesy Campbell Media Relations)

Wanda Watkins embarks on her 27th season as head coach of the Campbell women’s basketball program this year. She will lead a youthful, yet determined team through the final season to be played in Carter Gym, before a new era begins in the Gilbert Craig Gore Arena of the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center.

The team looks to rebound from a disappointing 8-21 (6-12 A-Sun) season, in which it finished seventh in the Atlantic Sun conference standings.

“It’s a challenge,” said Watkins. “It’s a challenge that I look forward to and our team looks forward to. We’re going to really try to avenge our season last year and take great strides to move our team forward.”

The Lady Camels return only two of their starters from last year. Seniors Marlena Murphy and Maggie Rich are the only Campbell players who have career starts in the double figures. The player with the third-most starts is junior Lauren Arthur, who has seen just six in her career.

“Despite the youth of our team, I think our players’ work ethic has helped them to get better,” Watkins said. “We also have some talented newcomers who are going to come in here and give us a boost.”

The 2007-08 squad consists of 11 returning players (three seniors, two juniors, three true sophomores and three red-shirt sophomores) and four newcomers (three freshmen and a junior transfer).

“If I was a person from the outside looking in at our team, I’d probably think, ‘Well they really have their work cut out for them,’ which we do coming off of last year,” said Watkins. “We’re not taking it lightly in any way. All of our work began the day we got back from our conference tournament. It started then and it’s been pretty fierce.”

The 2007-08 season tips off Nov. 9-10 at the Elon ISES Tournament, where Campbell will take on William & Mary on Friday and Elon on Saturday. The team then returns to Buies Creek for the home opener against in-state rival UNC Wilmington on Wednesday, Nov. 14.

The Lady Camels will compete in two additional tournaments during the fall semester, first at Farmville, Va. for the Longwood Classic Nov. 16-17, then in Atlanta, Ga. for the Georgia State Hyatt Invitational Dec. 28-29.

“Those first two tournaments at Elon and Longwood will challenge us early,” said Watkins. “We’re going to have to be ready quickly because of the competition that we’re going to face in those tournaments.”

After 13 games against non-conference opponents, the team opens its Atlantic Sun slate Saturday, Jan. 5 against Belmont in Carter Gym.

“We’ll face a number of schools from a wide variety of conferences,” said Watkins. “Some of them we’ll be facing for the first time ever. I think we have a wide enough variety of schools we’re playing out-of-conference that we’ll be challenged and hopefully better prepared for the conference schedule.”

Seniors

The Lady Camels welcome back three four-year veterans for the upcoming season.

Marlena Murphy, a 2006-07 Atlantic Sun All-Conference First-Team recipient, finished last season as the team’s high scorer, averaging 12.1 points per game. The senior from Fayetteville, N.C., also earned NCCSIA University Division All-State Women’s Basketball All-State First Team honors following her junior season.

In addition to scoring, the 6-foot center led the team in rebounds per game (9.4), steals per game (1.9) and field goal percentage (47.5). Murphy finished the season with 12 double-doubles.

“I think that Marlena can be one of the dominant forces to be reckoned with in the league as long as she continues to stay healthy,” said Watkins. “We need for her to continue to be a solid, consistent performer.”

Maggie Rich, a 5-10 forward out of Salisbury, N.C., should play significant minutes in the front court, as long as she can overcome a nagging back injury that has affected her throughout her career. Rich stands as the second-highest returning scorer, averaging 4.4 points per game last season. She played exceptionally well in the final three games of last year, averaging 7.7 points for those outings.

“From Maggie, we need some really solid consistency,” said Watkins. “It would definitely help us out on the perimeter. She’s a good scorer and a good rebounder, but her health is going to be a key for us.”

The third senior, who has seen less playing time than the other two, but puts in equal effort, is Kristin Graham. The 5-5 guard from Daleville, Va. played in 21 games last season and averaged just under 10 minutes per game.

“Kristin has some experience and is very coachable,” said Watkins. “She’s the type of player that you can put in there and she’ll do exactly what you asked of her. On a lot of nights, that’s valuable.”

Juniors

Lauren Arthur returns for the Lady Camels after averaging 3.2 points per game last season. The 5-3 point guard from Alexandria, Va. appeared in 28 games, playing for 13.6 minutes per game, and started on four occasions. Arthur led the team in assists four times.

“Lauren has very much improved for us in the point spot and has accepted a leadership role,” Watkins said.

Forward Cara Bell played in nine games last season for a total of 17 minutes. The 5-9 junior from Weldon, N.C. totaled four rebounds, four points, two assists, a block and a steal.

“Cara has improved in her off-season,” said Watkins. “She’s a solid defender and that’s definitely a plus for her.”

Junior transfer Jessica Mack joins the Lady Camels this season from McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. The Dallas native averaged 9.1 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists per game over her two years at McLennan. Mack, a 5-6 guard, received the defensive player of the year honor for her conference last year.

“Jessica is an outstanding defender, and she possesses speed and agility,” said Watkins. “She will provide our team with a great deal of athleticism.”

Sophomores

Gara Bell returns for the Lady Camels after a standout freshman season. The 6-0 red-shirt sophomore led all Campbell freshmen in three categories: points per game (3.8), rebounds (4.1) and minutes (13.5).

A center from Weldon, N.C., Bell ranked 15th in the Atlantic Sun with 1.93 offensive rebounds per game.

“Gara has worked really hard this past summer and off-season on her shooting,” Watkins said. “She has shown a lot of improvement. We need for her to be a strong rebounder, defender and finisher inside for our balance. She is our best defender on the team, and we need for her offense to become consistent with her rebounding and defense.”

Lindsay Smithberger, a 5-10 forward from Pickerington, Ohio, played in 25 games for Campbell in her freshman season, including four starts. She averaged 2.5 points per game while shooting 37.9 percent from beyond the arc.

“Lindsay is a much-improved player who saw some minutes last year, but was injury-plagued throughout her freshman season,” Watkins said. “She could be a definite scoring option for us this year.”

Also returning is Kelly Hufstedler, a 6-0 forward from Fairview, Tenn. Hufstedler appeared in all 29 games for the Lady Camels, averaging 1.6 rebounds per game. The sophomore shot 94.4 percent from the charity stripe, knocking down 17-of-18 free throws on the season.

“Kelly is much improved,” said Watkins. “She will be a plus for us. She got some playing time last year that, for a freshman, was valuable. She’s probably one of the most improved players out on the perimeter. Kelly put in a lot of hours this summer and it shows up in her play.”

Ashley Williamson played in 20 games as a freshman and averaged just under five minutes per contest. The 6-1 center from Colonial Heights, Va. pulled down 1.4 rebounds per game.

“Ashley was a player who played limited time last year, but I think she earned valuable experience as a freshman,” said Watkins. “She’s looking so much more improved.”

Also returning for the Lady Camels are red-shirt sophomores Lieset van den Heuvel and Lynisha Ochogu. Van den Heuvel, a 6-4 center from Amersfoort, Netherlands, appeared in 11 games last season.

“Lieset came back this year in really good condition,” said Watkins. “She’s beginning to understand more about the system here. When she came, she hadn’t played on a lot of structured teams and I think she’s beginning to grasp the concept and get a better understanding.”

Ochogu redshirted last season due to an injury in the off-season. The 5-7 guard from Charlotte, N.C. appeared in 25 games her freshman year.

“We’ll have to see how Lynisha does and how she responds to her injury,” said Watkins. “I think she’s doing well. She made her mile time already, so she’s progressing.”

Freshmen

The team welcomes three freshmen to the program this year: Whitney Ferguson, Ashley Wright and Lauren Yesh.

Ferguson, a 6-0 forward, comes to Campbell from Eastern Randolph High School in Ramseur, N.C. In her senior season, she averaged 8.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game on a team that went 26-3 and 12-0 in conference.

“Whitney is going to be a very promising player for us,” said Watkins. “She’s a natural scorer and as she gets experience, she’ll be a very good player for us here.”

Hailing from Halifax, N.C., Wright averaged 21 points, five assists and six steals per game for Southeast Halifax High School. The 5-4 guard also pulled down 3.6 rebounds per game.

“Ashley brings athleticism to our program in the point spot,” Watkins said. “She has great court awareness and passing ability on the floor. She can score through penetration and on the perimeter, but by far she makes others around her better.”

Lauren Yesh, of Evart, Mich., averaged 13 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals per game for Evart High School. The 5-11 forward earned All-State and All-Conference honors and was a McDonald’s All-American nominee.

“Lauren is a talented freshman who can play with power inside and has the ability to step out on the perimeter as well,” said Watkins. “She will be an asset to us in the four-spot and has led the way in our preseason conditioning activities as a freshman in her position.”

12 Days of A-Sun Basketball Schedule
Oct. 22 - Belmont
Oct. 23 - Campbell
Oct. 24 - ETSU
Oct. 25 - Florida Gulf Coast
Oct. 26 - Gardner-Webb
Oct. 29 - Jacksonville
Oct. 30 - Kennesaw State
Oct. 31 - Lipscomb
Nov. 1 - Mercer
Nov. 2 - UNF
Nov. 5 - USC Upstate
Nov. 6 - Stetson