The women open their season against Bradley at 7 p.m. Friday in the MACC.
Bradley was 9-22 a year ago and beat Kent State 68-60 in Peoria. Like Kent State, the Braves have a new coach who's installed new offensive and defensive systems. Bradley returns three starters from a team that was fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference in defense last season.
Kent State will be playing its first game under new head coach Todd Starkey, who became the Flashes' sixth head coach after Danny O'Banion's contract wasn't renewed. She went 21-98 over four years.
Starkey's offense should feature more passing and more ball screens to get shooters open. You'll see a somewhat different use of leading scorer Jordan Korinek, who won't be camped as much in the lane as she was a year ago.
The defensive will start with a half-court man-to-man. Starkey is a very defensive-minded coach.
Every player from last year's 6-23 team returns except guard Tyra James, who's out for the season with a knee injury. The team has added a Division I transfer, a single true freshman and has a redshirt freshman who played only three games a year ago before being injured. Expect all three to play significant roles this year.
In a closed scrimmage over the weekend, the team went into overtime against Cleveland State, a team that beat KSU soundly a year ago.
Lots more, including a rundown of a the possible starting line-up and a guess at how good the team will be, is on the blog at
http://wbbflashes.com.