Brou Together to Win On paper, the Harding Lady Bisons were a solid, well-prepared team. With foul" freshmen, three sophomores, three juniors and three se– niors seaneE'ed evenly across five positions, a team does not gel mOI"e evenly or ideally distributed . The team seemed to be concrete in pel'– sonnel and in position. H owever, the Lady Bison's starting point was very different from what it seemed . "\¥hen the team J'eturned from summer holidays, there were more new faces than there were familiar. Out of 13 players, eight were completely new to Har – ding. Only fi ve players frOITI the previous season returned. Few teams experi– enced such drastic change in personnel over one summe r. "We are bringing a lot of different backgrounds together this year," sopho– more returner Sierra Rollin s sa id. "With freshmen coming in , they don't know about collegiate basketball at a ll. With transfers , they al ready have the ir own style o f pl ay. That brings a lot of different skills to the table." One such characteri st ic th e new p layers brought was exc itement on and o ff the floor. "Thi s team has a lot of energy and that is one of the b es t things that could have happened," C oach Tim Kirby said. "We p lay fast and want to b e sprinting every possession and putting pressure offensively and defen sively at every position." The team members agreed that the excitement offered by fres hme n and new players was a positive for the team as a whole. "We get to practice and they are ready to go and excited all the time, eve n at 5:30 am on the track," returning senior Stacy O wens said. "We have five players on the floor that all want th e same thing and keep positive alt itudes." This year, th e Lady Bisons had depth and athleticism as their strengths. They also had a wealth of sheer talent and leadersh ip, according to Coach Kirby. "Caitlyn Skinner, our four -year point guard, brings back really good lead– ersh ip and is the most coachable player and one of the hardest workers we've ever had," Kirby said. "But you don't have to be here four years to be a lead e r, We have severa l girls who just lead by example , and that 's what we want." Despite the team 's lack o f exp e rien ce together, they welded together and fo rmed a force to be r eckon ed with. "As a team, we get along better than any team I 've ever been around ," Kirby said. "They look like they have fu n togethe r and seemed to have become friends the day they stepped on campus." An d that was a good thing since they lived together and spent every waking - and sleeping - minute together. "We wake up together, we eat toge th e r . we are attached at the hip ," Rollins said. "There is a lot of unity o n th e lea rn this year because we all have the same goals. We all want to win." Janet Orgo;n Row 1: K. Bartee, B. St. Clair, D. Isaac-Boyce, K. Skinner, S. Rollins, J. Sanchez, E. Nagel, S. Owens. Row 2: T. Kirby, J. Walker, J. Pearson, D. Reiher, M. Kel– leybrew, l. Root, K. Dunn, C. McMenamy, A. Troxler, K. Donnell, S. Fullerton. Elizabeth Nagel Craig Rainbolt Bailey St. Clair Craig Rainbolt Lady Bisons -– Craig Rainbolt lindsey Root Craig Rainbolt women 's basketbal l 289
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