ENMU women look to play at faster pace

Nov. 8—PORTALES — Second-year Eastern New Mexico University women's basketball coach Meghan De los Reyes, who led the Greyhounds to a 10-14 record (6-10 Lone Star Conference) in her initial campaign, decided to change gears with her team this season.

She has nine new players, a new assistant coach (Martin Pazanin) and a new style — as in up-tempo.

Picked 10th out of 16 teams in the LSC this season — although the conference is actually splitting into two eight-team divisions — De los Reyes says she doesn't play much attention to preseason polls.

"We're competing with ourselves every day," said De los Reyes, whose team got in a scrimmage on Saturday against a rugged New Mexico Junior College squad in Hobbs. "We know our areas of strength and the areas where we need to improve.

"We're looking to play more up-tempo. We're going to try to take advantage of our quickness."

The Hounds open the 2022-23 campaign in the LSC/Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Challenge this weekend at New Mexico Highlands in Las Vegas, facing Fort Lewis on Friday and the host Cowgirls on Saturday.

"We have a mix of everything," De los Reyes said. "We have some size and athleticism.

"It's a completely different team than last year. We'll be doing a lot of different things."

Only four players are back from last season, and two of them — senior post Alexsis Johnson and senior guard Julia Chavez — have already been lost with season-ending injuries in preseason.

Sophomore guard Bella Stone is the most experienced returnee, but she realizes her role will be much different.

"It's definitely more of a leadership role," said the 5-foot-6 Stone, a native of Crescent City, Calif., who graduated high school 30 miles away in Medford, Oregon. "It's a little easier to jump into that because of my point guard role."

Stone is one of a number of players who can shoot the 3-pointer, and De los Reyes is hopeful the Hounds can get that part of their game going after shooting just 26 percent from distance last season.

"Bella is a playmaker who can shoot from 3," De los Reyes said. "We need everybody to be a threat."

Five transfers are on the squad, including Tucumcari junior Ashley Shipley, who came to ENMU after Texas A&M-Commerece left the LSC at the end of the school year to join Division I. She's also a 3-point threat, De los Reyes said.

"She plays super-hard and is a great teammate," she said of Shipley, who played two seasons for the Lions and, because of COVID-19, has three campaigns remaining.

Two of the transfers come from Division I in senior guard Edecia Beck (Wright State) and senior forward Lazurea "Laz" Saunders (Alabama A&M), while junior guard/forward Deja Adrian (Blinn CC) and junior guard Alexandria Sarinana (Central Wyoming) came through the junior college route.

Four freshmen — guards Corin Camara and Marley Freeman, forward Julieta Ceja and guard/forward KiKi Roberts — could all contribute early.

Stone said the mix of players from different backgrounds is coming together.

"The chemistry is still not there, but as soon as that falls into place it'll be a lot better," she said. "We have good balance. Our freshmen are incredible.

"I feel a lot more comfortable this year, just because of the role I have. I'm getting anxious to play; we're tired of playing against each other."

Stone and De los Reyes know the LSC will be a grind, but they're ready for the challenge.

Defending LSC champion West Texas A&M and Lubbock Christian, both in the West Division with ENMU, were 1-2 in the preseason poll.

"We just have a lot of really good coaches in the league," De los Reyes said. "Whatever your weaknesses are, they'll be exposed.

"We have some of the strongest teams in the country right here in our league. It's a battle every night."