FAMU at NORTH FLORIDA
Friday, November 11, 2016 * 7:00 p.m. * Jacksonville, Florida
ESPN3.com
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The FAMU Women's Basketball team opens their 2016-17 campaign with the first of two road games Friday night, facing off against the University of North Florida in Jacksonville (7:00 p.m. - ESPN3.com).
Below is a position-by-position preview of the 2016-17 FAMU Women's Basketball team.
2016-17 FAMU RATTLER WOMEN'S CAGE OUTLOOK
The 2016-17 FAMU Women's Basketball has reloaded after losing several key performers to graduation and is taking aim on the elusive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title.
Head coach LeDawn Gibson, starting her 10th season at FAMU, will have to move on following the loss of sharpshooting forward Olivia Antilla (14.8 ppg), one the MEAC's top three-point shooters (66 made triples) and Black College All-America guard Khadejra Young (14.5, 7.5 rbs, nationally ranked in steals with 86), the two leaders of the club a year ago.
Heading the pack of returning players will be a quartet of veterans – forward Alicia McCray and point guard Victoria Nguyen, along with junior guard Dawn King, and 6-4 redshirt sophomore center Shalunda Burney-Robinson.
Burney-Robinson, averaged 6.7 ppg, 6.6 rbs, before getting sidelined with a knee injury; McCray, a 5-11, performer, averaged 5.9 ppg, 5.6 rbs, and led the team with 28 blocked shots;
Nguyen, a 5-5 backcourt ace, averaged 5.4 ppg and 3.7 rbs, while dishing out 85 assists, and finishing with 39 steals; King, a 5-9, Texas native, averaged 5.3 ppg and 2.1 rbs, cashing in on 26 three-pointers.
Gibson also landed a seven-person recruiting class which should bolster the returning groupThe septet of newcomers include Kennedy Burks (5'11 G/F Grand Prairie, TX, Jamella Smith (5'10 G Chapel Hill, NC) , Ny'Asia Davis (6'3 C Starke, FL) , Dy'Manee Royal (6'0 F Savannah ,GA ) , Ecenur Yurdakul (5'7 PG , Eyup, Turkey) , Shakeyrra Morrison (6'0 G/F, and DI transfer Taylor Darks (5'11 W Cincinnati, OH) .
THE SCHEDULE
FAMU will face a rugged 2016-17 schedule which will feature a pair of Southeastern Conference foes – Florida (Dec. 21) and Alabama (Dec. 28) – in a 13-game non-conference slate, that also includes Stony Brook, Marshall, Eastern Illinois, Richmond, North Florida, Jacksonville, Omaha, Western Carolina, Morehead State, Thomas University and Stillman College.
The MEAC schedule will be challenging as always, and the 16-game league slate opens on the road on Jan.4 against Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Now a closer look at the team, position:
BACKCOURT
Nine prospects will make up the backcourt group for the FAMU Women in 2016-17, headlined by 5-9 junior two-guard Dawn King (Waxahachie, Tex.), and 5-5 senior point guard Victoria Nguyen.
In the FAMU two-guard group will be 5-7 junior college transfer Ecenur “E” Yurdakul (Instanbul, Turkey), 5-8 JUCO product Kalybriah Haskins (Pensacola, Fla.), 5-10 redshirt junior Florence Ouattara (Tiassale, Ivory Coast), 5-9 sophomore London Holland (McKinney, Tex.) and 5-10 junior Jamella Smith (Chapel Hill, N.C.).
Vying for playing time at the point with Nguyen will be 5-5 senior Cedricka Sweeting (Nassau, Bahamas), and 5-7 junior Briana McCrimmon (Cary, N.C.).
FRONT COURT
The FAMU front line group will be led by 6-4 redshirt sophomore center Shalunda Burney-Robinson (Palmdale, Calif.), who is back after missing a good part of last season with a knee injury. She will get help in the pivot from a pair of newcomers, 6-3 freshman Ny'Asia Davis (Starke, Fla.), and 6-2 sophomore DeAnn Whitlow (Hermitage, Tenn.).
On the wings, the Rattler women will feature a mix of veterans and newcomers, headed by 5-11 redshirt junior Alicia McCray (West Palm Beach, Fla.), who is one of the key returning starters from a year ago.
The incoming newbies on the wings (forward) group include 6-1 freshman Dy'Manee Royal (Savannah, Ga.), 5-11 freshman Kennedy Burks (Grand Prairie, Tex.), 5-11 sophomore Taylor Darks (Cincinnati, Ohio), and 6-0 junior Shakerrya Morrison (East Wake, N.C.).
COACH'S QUOTE: “We are rebuilding this year after losing 72% of our scoring in Khadejra Young and Olivia Antilla, but my staff and I have done a remarkable job in selecting the kind of student athletes we need here at Florida A&M University,” Coach Gibson said.
