BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Lady Topper Basketball first-year Head Coach Greg Collins, redshirt juniors Alexis Brewer and Dee Givens and junior Whitney Creech represented WKU in its annual on-campus Media Day on Friday afternoon inside E.A. Diddle Arena's Paul Just Media Center.
The Lady Toppers will be guided by Collins in his seventh season with the program but first as head coach. The former assistant coach has guided the team to 154 victories since making the move to The Hill prior to the 2012-13 season, the most among C-USA programs. In addition, the Lady Toppers have reached the postseason following all six campaigns, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn., in 2017-18.
"We've got a team of great young ladies. We've got a bunch of great kids, and I keep saying that the strength of our team is our team," Collins said. "While we graduated two of the best players that have ever played here in Ivy Brown and Tashia Brown, any one of our players that are here might step up and do something like Ivy and Tashia did last year. I don't know that we have one player who can take on those roles solely, but I think we have a number of players who can step up and fill those roles."
Despite not having a member on the preseason All-C-USA team, WKU was picked fourth in the annual preseason poll voted on by the league's coaches. The Lady Toppers graduated two of the all-time great players in school history in Tashia Brown and Ivy Brown, and will look to players such as 2018 C-USA Freshman of the Year Raneem Elgedawy and 2018 C-USA Sixth Player of the Year Dee Givens to help maintain the program's high level of recent success.
"I think our biggest improvement so far has been sharing the ball. Last year, we ran a lot of things through Tashia and Ivy, so this year we're working on making sure the ball get distributed," Collins said. "We're trying to get the ball out more quickly and get down the court and get into our offense quickly, and I think those have been the biggest differences with our team so far."
WKU will open its 2018-19 campaign next Thursday evening, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m. as the Lady Toppers host West Virginia State in an exhibition matchup inside E.A. Diddle Arena. The team will then open the regular season with a clash against longtime rival and 2018 Final Four participant Louisville inside Diddle Arena at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Louisville is the first of at least seven 2018 NCAA Tournament team that the Lady Toppers will face in a daunting non-conference schedule.
Lady Topper Basketball holds a rich tradition as one of the traditional powerhouses in women's college basketball. Ranked 10th in NCAA history with 984 victories, WKU has collected more wins in its 54-year history than perennially strong programs such as Notre Dame, North Carolina, Maryland and Baylor. In 2018-19, WKU will seek to return to the NCAA Tournament for the 21st time in school history and collect the program's first tournament victory since the 1999-00 campaign.
Season and single-game tickets are now on sale through the WKU Ticket Office online at WKUTickets.com or by phone at 1-800-5-BIGRED or 745-5222 locally.
Head Coach Greg Collins
On replacing Ivy and Tashia Brown…
"We've got a team of great young ladies. We've got a bunch of great kids, and I keep saying that the strength of our team is our team. While we graduated two of the best players that have ever played here in Ivy Brown and Tashia Brown, any one of our players that are here might step up and do something like Ivy and Tashia did last year. I don't know that we have one player who can take on those roles solely, but I think we have a number of players who can step up and fill those roles."
On the team's biggest improvement since becoming head coach…
""I think our biggest improvement so far has been sharing the ball. Last year, we ran a lot of things through Tashia and Ivy, so this year we're working on making sure the ball get distributed. We're trying to get the ball out more quickly and get down the court and get into our offense quickly, and I think those have been the biggest differences with our team so far."
On Whitney Creech…
"I don't think she's any more versatile than she ever was. We're trying to just get her to be Whitney Creech and to play the way that she knows how to play: less thinking about playing the way that you're supposed to and just playing the game instead. I think that she has gotten much more comfortable in that role. I don't know that she's added versatility, but she may have been playing a little more restrained trying to make sure that she did the right thing. Now she just feels a lot more confident in her game."
On an unexpected player that will shine this season…
"We've got a freshman, Meral Abdelgawad, who is in a position that as she learns more about American-style basketball, she will become increasingly more effective and efficient. I think Sherry Porter has also grown in her confidence; she has very good speed and she's improved her shooting efficiency. I also think Raneem Elgedawy, even though she was Freshman of the Year last year, has only shown the tip of what she's going to be able to do. She will become even more impactful this year as the season goes along."
On being picked fourth in the preseason poll…
"We were picked fourth, and in a lot of ways that's a compliment to us. We graduated a lot of points, a lot of rebounds and a lot of experience. For the conference to still pick us fourth, I think that's a big vote of confidence for our girls. It's a lot about respect and the players that we've had here and the winning tradition that we've built. We've just got to go out and prove that we've earned that spot, and if we want anything more than that then we have to earn that as well."
Redshirt Junior Guard Alexis Brewer
On the fourth-place selection in the preseason poll…
"We lost a lot last year, so we have a lot of new faces coming in. Being picked fourth was to be expected and it has helped to motivate us to work harder this preseason."
On WKU's tough non-conference schedule…
"We do have a tough schedule, but it's only going to make us better for conference play. We're really going to get pushed in these non-conference games, and we're going to play hard and try to have fun. The outcome is the outcome in these games."
Redshirt Junior Forward Dee Givens
On the new faces around the team…
"Jae'Lisa [Allen] has come in and she works really hard; every time she's out there on the floor she gives her all. Meral [Abdelgawad] also works really hard, out of our group of freshmen she has really stood out to me. Everybody else who returns has also been putting in a lot of hard work this offseason."
On the chemistry of the team…
"We have a lot of personality on this team, we're really goofy. Everybody gets along and that's one reason why we all like each other. Off the court, we know that you can lean on anybody on this team. If you're having a bad day, you can talk to anybody and see how you can get better, whether it's on or off the court."
Junior Guard Whitney Creech
On the start of the season…
"We've been practicing really hard and we're just tired of playing against each other at this point. We're ready to play someone else other than our teammates. We're really excited to get out there and start this new era under Coach Collins."
On sharing the ball…
"How Coach mentioned sharing the ball, that's something that we've worked on in practice every day. We chart how many assists we have for each player, and Coach will tell us at the end of practice how we did with assists and turnovers. We've put a lot of focus into that in practice and we're looking to always try to get other players open."
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