2024-25 Centenary Women's Basketball Season Preview

Conway, Ark. - The Centenary women's basketball team opens its 2024-25 regular season on Sunday afternoon with a non-conference against the Hendrix College Warriors set for 4 p.m. inside Grove Gymnasium.

Live stats and live video are available for the game at the links below:

STATS: https://hendrixwarriors.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary

VIDEO: https://team1sports.com/hendrixwarriors/

The Ladies, led by third-year head coach Paul Reed, are scheduled to play 24 games this season – 16 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference games and eight non-conference contests. Centenary is set to play 12 home games and 12 road games and will play five of its first eight games away from home.

Former Centenary men's basketball player Chrys Jackson has joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach and will work alongside a pair of volunteer assistants this season in Matthew Graham and Lynette Taylor. 

Season Outlook:

The Ladies return three starters this season – junior G Amiyah Barrow (Baton Rouge, La.), juniorF Layla Powell (Fort Worth, Texas), and junior F Kyra Stokes (Shreveport, La.). Barrow and Stokes each earned All-SCAC honors last season and Powell played in 23 games and made 22 starts while averaging 7.8 PPG, 3.1 rebounds/game, 1.1 assists/game and 1.0 steals/game.

Barrow was named to the All-SCAC Third Team, finished second on the team in scoring (11.8 PPG) which ranked sixth in the league and reached double figures 15 times. She shot a team-best 42.6 % from the field which ranked in the top 10 in the league. Barrow proved to be one of the SCAC's top all-around players as she also ranked sixth in assists (67/2.9/game), 11^th in FT % (72.8 %), seventh in 3-point FG % (35.4 %), and ranked in the top 15 in both defensive and offensive rebounds. Barrow also led the league in minutes played, averaging 34.7 minutes per game and played 40 minutes seven times.

Stokes followed up an impressive rookie season by being named Honorable-Mention All-SCAC as she averaged 8.3 PPG (third on team) and was the Ladies' leading rebounder at 6.8 boards per game. Stokes, who reached double figures eight times, finished second in the league in blocked shots (35 total - 1.5/game) and third in rebounding.

Powell was in her first season with the Ladies after transferring in from University of the Ozarks and reached double figures five times and scored a season-high 22 against Schreiner at home on Feb. 16. Powell was also named to the SCAC Winter All-Sportsmanship Team.

The Ladies, who finished 2-22 overall and 1-15 in SCAC play last season, finished as one of the conference's top free-throw shooting teams (71.2 %) and ranked 90^th nationally. The Ladies shot 70 % or better from the FT line 16 times during the season and did so in their final six games and shot 75 % or better nine times. Centenary was also a strong defensive club as the Maroon and White held nine opponents to 70 points or less.

"The conference schedule once again will be very competitive with Trinity University who won the regular season and conference championship the past two seasons along with Colorado College and Texas Lutheran University," said Reed. The addition of a few new schools will also strengthen the conference schedule."

"We will rely on the experience of our three returning starters and the addition of several new players such as freshman G Nevaeh Rivera (Rosepine, La.), freshman F Shyanne Phillips (Leesville, La.), freshman F Anaya Yunusah (New Orleans, La.) along with a few transfers will be welcomed addition to a young squad this season."

"This season we are stressing that we are building the program daily laying the foundation down one step at a time and remembering the quote that Rome wasn't built in a day. We are stressing hard work and dedication for the upcoming season."

Centenary defeated Hendrix last season by a score of 80-69 in the Millsaps Thanksgiving Classic in Jackson, Miss. Centenary's 80 points ended up being a season high and one of its best all-around offensive performances as the Maroon and White shot 41.3 % (26-63) from the floor for the game, 34.8 % (8-23) from beyond the arc, and 76.9 % (20-26) from the free throw line.

The Ladies will play the Warriors twice this season with the second meeting set for Tuesday, Nov. 26 at home. Hendrix finished 4-22 last season and 2-12 in Southern Athletic Association play. The Ladies' home opener is set for Tuesday, Nov. 19 versus the Mississippi University for Women (MUW) at 5:30 p.m.

Centenary was picked to finish 12^th in the SCAC preseason poll this season. The top six teams in the conference will qualify for the SCAC Women's Basketball Tournament, which will be held February 28 through March 2 and hosted by University of Dallas in Irving, Texas. The winner of that event will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wbkb/2024-25/schedule 

Admission is FREE to all Centenary women's basketball home games. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.

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