Friday, November 11, 2011

MACON, Ga. - The 2011-12 Atlantic Sun Women's Basketball Season begins on Friday with all 10 teams in action with six home games being broadcasted on ASun.TV. Ten games are slated to be shown on ASun.TV during the opening week of play.

The defending regular-season champions, FGCU opens the season on the road at Seton Hall, who the Eagles defeated last season in Alico Arena, 64-57. Stetson, the 2011 Atlantic Sun Championship victors, open the new season with Palm Beach Atlantic in Deland, Fla.

This season both FGCU and USC Upstate are fully eligible for postseason play after the four-year transitional period from Division II to Division I.

Atlantic Sun Opening Week Notes:
• In the first year under head coach Brittney Ezell, the Bruins advanced to the 2011 A-Sun Basketball Championship Semifinals. It marked the Bruins’ third-straight appearance in the tournament semifinals and fifth in the past six championships.

• ETSU returns four of the top six scorers from last season as Mitchell is joined by Natalie Pickwell (11.7), Gwen Washington (9.3) and Shawn Randall (5.8). The quartet made up for 57.2 percent of the team’s offense last season.

• Last season, FGCU picked up three wins against BCS-level opponents with victories against Seton Hall, Virginia Tech and Indiana. This season, the Eagles square off with four BCS teams including Seton Hall to kick off the season.

• Just like last season, Jacksonville brings plenty of height onto the court as the roster features six student-athletes at 5-10 or taller, which includes four six-foot players. JU ranked second in the A-Sun last season in total rebounds and third in rebounding margin.

• Kennesaw State junior forward Sametria Gideon averaged 11.9 points and 10.4 rebounds last season to make her one of two players in the A-Sun to average a double-double. She registered 12 double-doubles in total - third-most in the A-Sun.

• Last season, Lipscomb shot 200 more three-pointers than their opponents and made 54 more. Anna Bowers led the team in three-pointers made at 2.8 per contest, while six total players made at least 10 threes for the season.

• Mercer returns its top-six scorers from last season. Led by Briana Williams (18.0), the Bears bring back three other players who averaged at least seven points per outing including; Brittnee Hazel (11.3), Kendra Grant (7.7) and Alex Phillips (7.5). Mercer returns 89.8 percent of its scoring.

• North Florida’s Brittany Kirkland enters the season with 1,200 career points, which is most amongst active A-Sun women’s basketball student-athletes. Her career total ranks in a tie for 46th all-time in A-Sun history.

• Last season, USC Upstate earned a postseason berth into the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI), which marked the university’s first-ever Division I Postseason appearance. This season, the Spartans are eligible for the A-Sun Basketball Championship as well as an NCAA Tournament berth.

• With the victory in the A-Sun Championship Final last season, Stetson’s Head Coach Lynn Bria became the first coach in A-Sun history to lead two conference teams to the tournament title. Bria previously coached UCF to the A-Sun title in 1999.

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