LITTLE ROCK — UALR women’s basketball Coach Joe Foley hinted Tuesday there might have been outside influence behind his peers picking his squad finish third in the Sun Belt Conference West Division.
“You need to ask them if they were all out partying last night,” Foley said during Sun Belt Conference media day.
Despite losing a vaunted trio of seniors — defending conference player of the year Chastity Reed, Asriel Rolfe and Shanika Butler — and having nine underclassmen on his current roster, the conference coaches seemed confident of Foley’s ability to shape a roster featuring three returning starters.
Three coaches even went so far as to pick the Trojans, who went 24-7 and won the conference tournament last season, to win the division, led by senior forward Marion Kursh, a preseason second team all conference pick who averaged 10.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last season.
“We’ve got enough talent,” Foley said. “It’s just going to be a matter of how quickly we gain that experience and maturity to whether they can or not come conference time. It’s a big if, but that’s what you’ve got to do.”
The vote reveals the underlying trend in a league where the only consensus reached was Denver being the favorite in the West Division and Middle Tennessee picked to win the East Division.
Denver received nine first-place votes in the West, while Middle Tennessee had six in the East. Six other programs received at least one first-place vote.
“You can tell it’s pretty even,” Foley said. “Our side of the conference could wind up in reverse order if it all fell the right way. It’s definitely up for grabs, there’s no doubt.”
Arkansas State Coach Brian Boyer might have the most stable lineup entering the season. Three returning starters are led by NeNe Hurst, a fifth-year senior guard who averaged 11.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for the Red Wolves last season.
“I think there’s very few players in this conference that impact all aspects of the game,” Boyer said. “NeNe can be our leading scorer. She could be our leading rebounder. She’s most likely our best defender. She gets in every stat category.”
But the Red Wolves, who were picked second in the West by the coaches, will be without Hurst’s services until early December after she was diagnosed with a blood clot disorder and put on blood thinners, a treatment that prevents physical contact.
Sports, Pages 26 on 10/26/2011