Caitlin Dorsch, Copy Desk Chief~
The Old Dominion Athletic Conference coaches released their annual pre-season poll on Thursday, October 25, and the University of Lynchburg women’s basketball team was ranked third as they head of their 2018-19 season. The Lynchburg women’s basketball team, with 122 points, was one of only four teams in the conference to reach over 100 points in votes.
By bringing back two starters, senior guard/forward Alex Allen and sophomore guard Maggie Quarles, the team is looking to use their youth to propel them to the top of the conference. Quarles said, “Being ranked third in the preseason poll speaks volumes about the culture of the program. Though we are a young and less experienced team [than in previous years], we have an incredible amount of talent and drive that has the potential to carry us extremely far this season.”
Since the team met in August, the players have been working hard to prepare themselves for the season; specifically, they have been going to bootcamps twice a week, playing in games against each other, and doing shoot around on a daily basis.
Quarles said, “We have worked so hard from the last game this past spring to now, and are so excited to get back on the floor with each other. We have been focusing on our team chemistry and connecting as one unit in preparation for our first game, but I could not be more excited to go out and play with my favorite people in the world. Lynchburg women’s basketball truly is a family!”
Allen noted, “As far as the ranking goes, I would say that we were put in third because of our culture. We have had an extremely strong winning culture with 20 or more wins a season for the past three seasons and that is something we look to continue. We have a young team this year but that doesn’t change what we are ultimately working towards. Right now, we are working on getting our chemistry down and focusing on how we can be more solid as a team. We’re really excited for our first game coming up soon and can’t wait to show everyone how hard we have been working.”
The women’s basketball team with have their first game on Saturday, November 10 at 12 p.m. at the Wayne Proffitt Court in the Turner Gymnasium.