Shreveport – The Centenary women's basketball program has released its 2019-20 season schedule as the Ladies begin their regular season on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. versus Hendrix in the Gold Dome.
Centenary will face McNeese on the road in an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in Lake Charles before its regular season opener. The Ladies will also face Grambling in an exhibition game on Wednesday, Nov. 13 on the road at 7 p.m.
The Ladies' season opener on Nov. 10, also their home opener, will serve as their Homecoming game. The team is also excited to host their community partner "Plant A Seed In Our Youth Foundation" for their Kicks For Kids shoe distribution on Dec. 14.
Centenary will play 12 home games with nine of those being Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contests. The Ladies will play on the road 13 times with nine of those being SCAC games and four non-conference games. The Maroon and White finish off the month of November with road games at Mississippi University for Women (Nov. 22), Belhaven (Nov. 23), and Hardin-Simmons (Nov. 30).
The Ladies play at LeTourneau on Dec. 7 and then return home on Dec. 14 to face Mississippi University for Women for the second time. The Ladies open SCAC play on the road at Austin College on Friday, Dec. 20 and welcome Colorado College to town on Sunday, Dec. 29 for their first conference home game. Centenary finishes the regular season with three straight home games against St. Thomas (Feb. 14), Austin College (Feb. 21), and the University of Dallas (Feb. 22). The SCAC tournament is set for Feb. 28-March 1 in Kerrville, Texas hosted by Schreiner University.
Jason Schmitz begins his second season as head coach of the Ladies and is joined on his staff by assistants Mike Wilson, Gabby Cortez, and Tom Jackson. Centenary won three of its final games last season including six wins in conference play. The Ladies feature essentially a brand new roster this season with only four returnees. Junior forward Bre Frierson, a local product from Evangel, looks to build on an outstanding sophomore season in which she was an all-conference selection and will be a leader with a roster featuring nine newcomers.
"The Ladies have been working incredibly hard so far this season and have done a great job grasping the new concepts we have been introducing on both ends of the floor," said Schmitz.
"I'm incredibly excited to see if Bre Frierson can follow up on her all-conference selection last year in which she finished first in FG% in conference play and was also top 10 in the country over the entire season. Additionally, we will be looking for continued improvement from both Deunya Small (Shreveport/C.E. Byrd) and Darelzray Bellard (Mamou, La.) both in on-floor production and leadership.
"The freshman are working hard, and don't be surprised to see a few of them make an instant impact. It is imperative that we get off to a good start this year and get some positive momentum going into conference play."
The roster also features three transfers: Tacoya Allen (Texas A&M International), Jennae Mayberry (Santa Barbara City College), and Alex Williams (Bossier Parish Community College) that will all be counted on for production.
"Jennae Mayberry will provide great length and athleticism on both ends of the floor, Tacoya Allen brings toughness and depth to the point guard spot, and Alex Williams should provide some much needed perimeter scoring," said Schmitz.
We are excited to host Hendrix for our homecoming game on Nov 10 as well as hosting our community partner "Plant A Seed In Our Youth Foundation" for their Kicks For Kids shoe distribution on Dec. 14 before starting conference play on Dec. 20.
A link to the complete schedule is available here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wbkb/2019-20/schedule
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