Lady Pilots look to get back on track with three game home stand
January 11, 2006
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Lady Pilots began the 2005-2006 season at a record setting pace by posting an 8-2 overall record. Two tough road losses at the hands of NCAA Division I Southeastern Louisiana University and Loyola University in their Gulf Coast Athletic Conference season opener have dropped the Lady Pilots to 8-4 on the year.
Much to their credit, the Lady Pilots have fell victims to a very tough schedule which has had them on the road or at a neutral site for eight of their first 12 games in which they have posted a .500 record at 4-4.
On Thursday night the Lady Pilots will return home to The Dock where they have posted a perfect 4-0 record this season to take on the Belhaven College Lady Blazers with tip-off scheduled for 5:30pm.
This will be the first of three GCAC match-ups over the next six days at home for LSUS as they will host Southern University-New Orleans Saturday night at 5:00pm, and cap off the home stand with a 5:30pm tip-off against Tougaloo College.
Lady Pilots Head Coach Ronnie Howell feels as though his team is still trying to adapt to some line-up changes that were forced after the Christmas break.
“We had to make some personnel changes that may have hurt us a bit. It is a big adjustment when you lose your two time All-GCAC point guard and leading scorer,” commented Howell about the loss of Renalda Stafford who was declared academically ineligible at the conclusion of the fall semester.
However, where the LSUS offense may have suffered of the past two games, their defensive effort has constantly been improving and they are now 14th in the NAIA in points allowed this season.
“I have been very pleased with our defensive effort of late. We still have room for improvement, but the effort has been there. Offensively we just haven’t been able to finish. We are getting the looks we need but we just haven’t put the ball in the basket. We need to play to our strengths which are attack the basket and get back to the free throw line like we did earlier in the year,” said Howell.
At 0-1 in the GCAC, Howell expresses the importance of taking care of the home court advantage over the next week.
“It is very important to win at home in conference, especially early in the season. It is very difficult to win on the road. You just hope you play well enough to steal a few wins. We have had some big wins at home in conference play against ranked opponents which is a tribute to our players stepping up and knowing the importance of home conference games,” concluded Howell.
