WBB Game 1: ODU (0-0) @ Campbell (0-0)
The ODU Monarch’s basketball season begins Tuesday on the road at Campbell University. Campbell University is a private school located in Buies Creek, NC. Its about 33 miles south of Raleigh and 33 miles north of Fayetteville
The Campbell Fighting Camels were picked fifth in the preseason poll for the Big South. The Fighting Camels went 15-15 last season, 8-10 in the Big South. They are a team that is known for defense. They held opponents to 51.9 ppg last year. Offensively they averaged 55.9 ppg last year, but about half of that offense came from two players who graduated last year. This offseason they have made it a point to work on offense while keeping up their defense.
Fighting Camels Probable Starting Five (2017-18 stats)
#10 Hayley Barber 5’7” G Jr, 2.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.1 apg
#12 Caroline Browns 5’11” G SR, 5.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 92.3 FT%, 32.8 3P%
#20 Kyra Davis 6’0” F So 5.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.8 apg,
#3 Ashlyn Hampton 6’1” F So 5.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.5 apg, 45.1 FG%
#40 Lauren McNamara-Clement 6’2” F 4.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.4 apg, 40.0 FG%
Campbell plays two closed door exhibition games, so it’s a complete guess what the starting line up will look like. McNamara-Clement is their tallest player and that is my guess who will start to play against ODU’s 6’2” Dejah Carter. On offense, Browns, sophomore 5’4” G Tatyana Carver, and So Breanna Foster are the team’s main three-point shooters. 5’10” F Taya Bolden will be either in the starting line up or one of the first ones off the bench. She averaged 6.0 pg, 8.9 rpg, 0.8 apg.
They did a lot of mixing and matching of starters last season.
For ODU this will be a good test. Last season roads were in short supply. (1 win) But that is the beauty of having a new team to work with It’s like having short term memory loss, not many people are thinking about last year’s win and losses. :-)
Observations from the last Friday night. The team is fast and from a cardio perspective, looks like they can last the entire game. Sometimes early in the season that can make a difference. I think the fact that ODU played overseas before the season started and got a head start on conditioning will help us.
With that said, we still have a lot of work to do. Campbell will just be the first test.
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