Shreveport – The Centenary women's basketball team will open its 2021-22 season on Friday evening at home against the LeTourneau University YellowJackets in a non-conference contest set for 6 p.m. in the Gold Dome.
The Ladies will do so with several new faces, a new head coach, and a mix of productive and experienced veterans. Dana Dunson takes over as interim head coach for former head coach Jason Schmitz, but Dunson is not completely new, as he is entering his third year on the Ladies' staff after having recently served as an assistant coach.
Centenary is scheduled to play 24 regular-season contests and a pair of exhibition games, with 12 home games and 14 road/neutral games. The Ladies finished last season, an abbreviated one due to COVID-19, with a 1-9 record but played a number of close games as they lost four of those nine games by nine points or less.
The Ladies return two starters from last season in sophomore guard Addy Tremie (Sulphur, La.) and senior guard Jennae Mayberry (Clovis, Calif.). A pair of junior forwards, Amelia Bagwell (West Monroe, La.) and Jazzmyn Jones (Normangee, Texas) are also back after solid sophomore seasons, and junior guard Destini Powell (Minden, La.) has rejoined the team after playing for the Ladies as a freshman.
Tremie headlines the returnees after she turned in a sensational rookie season in which she was named the 2020-21 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Co-Newcomer of the Year also earned Honorable Mention All-SCAC recognition. Tremie was also named to the 2020-21 Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-State Women's Basketball Team after averaging 15.7 points per game, third-best in the conference, and led the team. Tremie reached double figures eight times in nine games last season, ranked third in the league in three-point field goals made (21), and third in minutes played (324 total minutes/36.0 MPG). She also finished tied for 12th in defensive rebounds (45), and tied for 14th in overall rebounding with 54 total and an average of six per game.
Tremie scored a career-high 21 points in the Ladies' narrow 57-55 loss to St. Thomas on Feb. 26, 2021 as she made 8-21 shots from the field and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in 38 minutes. She then scored 17 points in the Ladies' thrilling 70-69 overtime win the next day on Senior Day. Tremie shot 7-20 from the floor in 32 minutes and had six rebounds, two steals, and an assist.
Tremie did not miss a free throw all season, making all 10 of her attempts, and she grabbed at least five rebounds in a game seven times. She scored at least 17 points in a game six times and made at least two treys in a game six times. She wasted no time in establishing herself as a scorer as she poured in 18 points in her collegiate debut at home versus Texas Lutheran on Jan. 16, 2021. She shot 7-16 from the floor in 38 minutes and made four of her 10 three-point attempts and grabbed seven rebounds.
Mayberry started all 10 of the Ladies' games last season and averaged 33.6 minutes per game, which ranked second on the team. She averaged 7.0 points per game, shot 37.1 % from the floor for the season and reached double figures in scoring four times. Mayberry grabbed a career and season-high 10 rebounds on Feb. 6, 2021 versus Colorado College and had eight or more rebounds four times. She had two or more assists in game seven times, two or more steals in a game three times, and collected five or more steals in a game three times highlighted by a career-best eight at Dallas. She ranked eighth in the SCAC in assists and minutes played and ranked sixth in assist to turnover ratio. Mayberry was named to the SCAC 2020-21 Student-Athlete Academic Honor Roll and the 2020-21 SCAC All-Sportsmanship Women's Basketball Team.
Jones played in nine games and averaged 17.2 minutes per game and 9.4 points per game, third on the team. She shot 58.1 % from the floor which led the team and ranked third in the SCAC, recorded five double-digit scoring games including the final three games of the season. Jones matched her career high of 17 points twice during the season including the Ladies' season finale, a thrilling 70-69 overtime win at home versus St. Thomas as she tied the game at 59-59 with a shot off the glass with .006 on the clock to send the game to overtime and then scored the first three points of overtime to give the Ladies a 62-59 lead en route to the win. She ranked third on the team with 5.9 rebounds per game which was also 16th-best in the SCAC, collected two more steals five times, and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in the win over St. Thomas. Jones also collected five or more rebounds in game six times during the season.
Bagwell played in all 10 of the Ladies' games last season with nine starts, averaging 20 minutes played per game and 3.3 points per game. She finished 10th in the SCAC in rebounding as she averaged 6.7 per game which led the team. Bagwell grabbed a career-high and season-best 12 rebounds at Dallas and recorded six or more rebounds five times. She finished the season ranked fifth in offensive rebounds in the SCAC and 12th in blocks.
Powell, back with the Ladies after not playing last season, turned in an impressive rookie campaign during the 2019-20 season. She started all 25 games and averaged 7.3 points per game, which ranked second on the team and averaged 4.5 rebounds per game (fourth on team) and 24.3 minutes played per game, which was third-most on the team. She shot 51.6 % from the field for the season (second-highest on team) and had seven double-digit scoring performances. Powell scored 10 points in 29 minutes in her collegiate debut on Nov. 10, 2019 versus Hendrix and scored a career-high 26 points at Texas Lutheran as she made 7 of 13 shots from the floor, 6-9 from three-point range, and was 6-7 from the free-throw line in 28 minutes.
A pair of freshmen guards, Mary Leday (Opelousas, La.) and Alana Jones (Shreveport) are expected to make an immediate impact and are likely to start on opening night. Leday pepped at Northwest High School and was an All-State selection, named to the Acadiana All-Metro Team, as well as a member of the All-Parish, All-District, and Academic All-State teams. Jones, a local product who attended Woodlawn High School, brings an aggressive defensive style and scoring ability.
"My overall thought is that we can definitely make some noise this season, said Dunson. I am truly enjoying this group as they have shown the desire to learn, get better and win games,"
"I feel that this group of freshmen is going to be the energetic and Mary Leday could be Freshman of the Year in our conference as she is that good."
"Alana Jones is one of the best defensive players I have seen in a long time and I feel that all of the returning players have improved in these weeks leading up to the season. I also feel that Jennae Mayberry and Addy Tremie will both be the spark and motor of the team."
The Ladies will face Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La. on Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in an exhibition contest following their season opener and then are back at home for a regular-season game versus Hendrix on Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. Centenary faces Millsaps on the road on Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. and then Belhaven comes to town on Nov. 20 at 1 p.m.
Centenary finishes the month of November with an exhibition game at ULM on Nov. 22, then a road game at Ozarks (Ark.) on Nov. 27 and at Hendrix on Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. The Ladies start the month of December on the road to complete a five-game road trip, with games at Birmingham-Southern on Dec. 4 at Noon and then are at Dallas for their conference opener on Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
The Ladies will play four-straight conference games at home next month and into the New Year, beginning with a game versus Dallas on Dec. 17 at 5:30 p.m. The Ladies then face Trinity on Dec. 19 at 3 p.m. and then Southwestern on Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Texas Lutheran on Jan. 1 at 6 p.m.
Five of the Ladies' next seven games are on the road from early January to mid-February. Centenary is at Colorado College on Jan. 7 (7:30 p.m.) and at St. Thomas in Houston on Jan. 9 at 2 p.m. The Ladies welcome Austin College to town on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. and then rematch with the 'Roos in Sherman, Texas on Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. The Maroon and White then play the Schreiner Mountaineers in consecutive games, at home on Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. and in Kerrville, Texas on Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Centenary then finishes the weekend with a road contest at Trinity on Feb. 5 at 4 p.m.
The Ladies will play their final two home games of the regular season versus Colorado College on Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and St. Thomas on Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. Centenary then closes the regular season with games at Southwestern on Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. and at Texas Lutheran on Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. The 2022 SCAC Championship is scheduled for Feb. 25-27 in Sherman, Texas.
A link to the Ladies' complete 2021-22 schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wbkb/2021-22/schedule
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