Stephens Era Begins at Co-Lin

The 2022-2023 Lady Wolves finished the season with a 16-10 overall record, 6-8 in MACCC play, and made it to the first round of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament. The dawning of a new season in 2023-2024 brings a new era to Lady Wolves basketball as Dr. Britta Stephens begins her first season as head coach. Despite this being Coach Stephens first season, she is ready to get started.

"I am excited for this season. We have been working hard since we got here in August and I am excited about finally getting to play," said Stephens. "I think we have a good group of core sophomores who all bring experience to the table along with freshmen that have shown promise leading up to the season."

"I think that we are going to be a high energy team and that will look a little different than what Co-Lin has had in the past because of our player makeup and ability," added Stephens. "Pressing and guarding will be the way we work best this season. We are going to guard well and generate offense through our solid defense…that is going to be our strength."

The roster for the Lady Wolves features 12 players including six sophomores (four returners, two transfers) and six freshmen.

"I look for us to play pretty fast every game and for all of our players to play every game because of the style of basketball we are going to have to play this season," stated Stephens. "I think the depth of our roster will be one of our strengths."

Returning sophomores for the Lady Wolves include Kayla Howard (Shaw), Lashaunte Payne (Magee), A'shante Fleming (Canton), and Ceara Myers (Baton Rouge, LA) while Sequoia Bouldin (Hattiesburg) and Jamea Smith (Jackson) both come to Co-Lin after playing their freshmen years at Coahoma.

"Having these six sophomores that have played a year in our league is a big boost for our team and it is priceless for us," stated Stephens. "Ceara and A'shante both come back having played double-digit minutes in games last year and we are expecting big things out of them. Ceara was Player of the Week a couple of times last season, and both have brought a lot of maturity to practices. A'shante comes in the gym and puts in work to get better all the time. We have seen how that work ethic has caught on for other sophomores as Kayla Howard has been coming in more and working out with them to continue to get better. Lashaunte brings a lot of maturity and strength to the post position, and she can also step out and shoot the ball which will cause some matchup problems for our opponents."

"Jamea started at Coahoma last season and played a lot of minutes as a freshman. She has done a really good job of getting herself ready to be back on the court after battling through some injuries last season. She is incredibly skilled in the post with her back to the basket and I'm looking forward to how she works well with our other post players," added Stephens. "Sequoia is a kid that I recruited out of high school, and she plays very similarly to Kayla (Howard) as she is an excellent defender and has a lot of speed. She has stood out more to us with each practice we have and her experience as a sophomore really shines."

"I really think that Jamea, Ceara, and A'shante have the ability of being all-conference type players for us," added Stephens. "Jamea and Ceara can average double-doubles in rebounds and points. If we can keep those three playing really well for us and two or three more that can complement them then we will be really successful this season."

Incoming freshmen for the Lady Wolves include Kiersten Haynes (Clinton), Myla Harbor (Ferriday, LA), Ke'Asia McChriston (Jackson), Zamiya Brown (Flowood), Alexanjria Washington (Canton), and Tia Richardson (Jackson).

"Getting to know these freshmen has been a learning experience and I am pleased with what we have seen from them in practice leading up to the season," stated Stephens. "I think we have seen them picking up our sets and plays quickly and learning at a fast tempo. I think the biggest hurdle for a lot of them now is understanding the differences in the college game from high school."

"Myla is a promising freshman for us. She can shoot the three and has a strong midrange game which will cause matchup nightmares because of the things that we will be able to do with her skillset being able to play both positions for us," added Stephens. "We have a lot of freshmen guards like Ke'Asia and Kiersten that will be imperative to our success in terms of running the point position for us."

Stephens says she is expecting a tough challenge once conference play starts for the Lady Wolves.

"I feel like Pearl River is returning a really strong team as well as Gulf Coast…both of those teams will be near the top of the conference in addition to Itawamba who is also returning a lot of players from last year," stated Stephens. "I feel like the rest of the teams look similarly to us as a team in that we have some experience returning but have some growing to do and that is really good for our team going into the season."

"Ultimately our goal is to win as many games as we can this season and get into the postseason," said Stephens. "The first of the season will be all about growth and continuing to get better then when we hit conference play, we need to be hitting on all cylinders while earning our way into the Region 23 Tournament. I have told our girls that the more we win as a team, the more opportunities to play that you are going to get. This conference is tough, and I expect it to continue to be that way this season."

The Lady Wolves start the season on the road against Kilgore College in Baton Rouge at the BRCC Lady Bears Classic on Friday, November 3. 

Season tickets are available for $125 for 14 home dates at https://bit.ly/3MwaDbV. This includes admission to the game and the chairback seat. Game day admission is $7 for adults and $5 for students and will be on sale at the door.