As the Longwood women’s basketball team inches closer to their first regular season game on the road at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), excitement amongst the team is at a high as the team is looking to start fresh after a disappointing 2017-18 campaign.
“It’s just energy and excitement, there’s a lot of change going and we’ve really done a great job of embracing that and so we’re really excited to see what the new culture and program looks for us,” said redshirt junior Kate Spradlin.
The biggest change for the program came in mid-April when Longwood Athletics announced the hiring of former Navy women’s basketball associate head coach Rebecca Tillett, who replaced former Longwood head coach Bill Reinson.
Tillett, a native of Manassas, Va., is looking to transform the identity and culture of the program.
“For our women, we want to implement a tough and unselfish culture, so caring about other people so that the team can achieve great things," said the first-year head coach. "Being tough, in our world, you have to have an inner strength and I think for women to emphasize that for them is important."
The team also brings a new set of assistant coaches to the forefront this season, as Jessica Olmstead, Tiffany Sardin and Maeve Gallagher have been assembled by Tillett to help lead the Lancers to success.
The new coaching staff has given the team a fresh start, something Spradlin understands the team needed.
“I think a lot of it is our attitudes towards things. We look forward to coming to practice, we look forward to playing," Spradlin said. "It’s something that’s fun again for us and I think that’s really brought a lot of change.”
Spradlin, who finished fifth on the team in scoring with 5.9 points-per-game a year ago, is another experienced player on a team that only has two newcomers this season, freshman guard Milou Vennema and freshman forward Akila Smith, both dangerous 5-foot-11 threats.
In a pre-season scrimmage against the University of Richmond, the Lancers showed encouraging signs of growth and maturation going into regular season play.
"I think that gave us a good picture of where we are and what we need to do to improve,” Tillett said.
Earlier in the pre-season, to improve the team’s overall toughness and camaraderie, Tillett said she arranged practices named “Toughness with the Marine Core” which stemmed from her time at the Naval Academy. In the five sessions, all at 6 a.m. on Friday mornings, the team competed in mental and physical challenges to help develop chemistry and communication skills, according to Tillett.
Last season’s fourth leading scorer, senior guard/forward Kristina Antonenko thought the workouts were grueling, but beneficial.
“I also think it helped us to grow together as a team, because we really stick together, and in a lot of the workouts, you have to listen to your teammates and reply to them and really communicate a lot,” said Antonenko. “I think it was a really good thing.”
For the team to have success this season, Tillett said they will need contributions on all fronts from every player.
She hopes junior guard Dayna Rouse is able to stay healthy this season after undergoing shoulder surgery, saying she looks ready to go for tip-off. Additionally, Tillett said she wants to keep Khaila Hall off the injury list after only playing in two games last year.
The Lancers will have their first chance to show off their pre-season work for their home fans as they host the Wagner College Seahawks on Nov. 14, and then officially open a new season on Friday, Nov. 9.
First year assistant coach Tiffany Sardin oversees drills in preparation for the team's first game on Nov. 9 against VCU.
Longwood women's basketball hopes to improve their offensive attack after last season's 54.9 points per game, ranking 9th in the Big South.
