By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
LIVE STATS LINK
Toledo, Ohio---The No. 3 Owens Community College women's basketball team will kick off its 2016-17 regular season on the road at 6 p.m. tonight against Mercyhurst North East Community College.
Coming off back-to-back top five finishes at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and earning the highest preseason ranking in program history, this year's women's basketball team has national championship aspirations while carrying a 14-game regular season winning streak into tonight.
"We have a very competitive non-conference schedule that should build positive momentum leading up to our conference season, which starts even earlier this year with the addition of Hocking College," said head coach Michael Llanas. "We have made no bones about it. We want to repeat as conference champs and win what will be a very competitive district championship."
NATIONAL RANKING
This year's No. 3 preseason ranking in the NJCAA Division II poll represents the highest in program history. Last year's team was preseason No. 4.
OCCAC DOMINANCE
The Owens women's basketball program has won four straight and five of the past six conference championships. This year's team has been picked to make it five straight based on the preseason coaches poll. In addition, Owens has went 14-0 in each of the past two years in conference play and carries a 35 game regular season conference winning streak into this year.
LAST YEAR
Last year's team went 29-7 overall, won its fourth straight Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) championship with a 14-0 record, won its second straight Region XII District I championship and earned the program's second straight top five finish at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament. The team advanced to the national quarterfinals before finishing fifth and won 17 in a row at one point.
ROSTER
This year, the team's success will be built around a sophomore class that is led by Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio), a 6-0 forward who was named First Team All-Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC), OCCAC Player of the Year, Region XII District I player of the year, Region XII District I tournament MVP and NJCAA Second Team All-American. She also became the first player in program history to compete in the NJCAA All-Star game after averaging 13.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.
In addition to Reese, Sybil Roseboro (Elyria/Elyria, Ohio) and Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) return from last year's team. Roseboro averaged 6.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, while Bethea averaged 10.7 points, 3.9 steals and 3.4 assists per game. Furthermore, 5-10 guard Courizma Williams (Hughes/Cincinnati, Ohio) returns for her sophomore year after redshirting last season. She averaged 8.9 points per game for the 2014-15 team that finished 34-2.
On top of that, Owens brought in a stellar recruiting class that includes 6-4 center Kamryn Troike (St. Wendelin/Fostoria, Ohio), 5-6 guard Essence Cowan (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio), 5-2 point guard Brenda Pennington (Bishop Noll Institute/Hammond, Ind.), 5-9 guard Haili Mossing (Evergreen/Metamora, Ohio), 5-9 guard Haley Pickard (Genoa/Genoa, Ohio), 5-8 guard Denissa Sly (Northmont/Englewood, Ohio), 6-1 center Kaylah Ivey (Westerville South/Westerville, Ohio) and 6-0 forward Olivia Frost (North Baltimore/North Baltimore, Ohio).
This year's full roster can be found here.
COACH LLANAS
Llanas, who is entering his 13th year at Owens, is approaching 300 career wins and enters this year with a 294-96 record. He has averaged 24.5 wins during his time at the college while also leading the program to six conference championships, along with three top 10 finishes at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament over the past four seasons. Additionally, the team has won at least 25 games in each season since 2009-10. During that time, they have compiled a 195-37 record, including an 81-9 record in OCCAC play.
For more info on Coach Llanas, visit here
SUCCESS BEYOND OWENS
Last year's team had four of its five sophomores sign with four-year schools - Lakyn Gulley at NCAA Division I Southeast Missouri State University, Tatyana Reynolds at NCAA Division II West Virginia State University, Briana Williams at NCAA Division II West Virginia State University and Mikayla Ward at NCAA Division II Urbana University. Nine players from the 2014-15 team signed with four-year schools, and that could become 10 with Courizma Williams. On top of that, the program has sent 17 student-athletes to play at four-year schools over the past four years. Among those 17, four have signed with NCAA Division I schools, 10 sent to NCAA Division II schools and three went the NAIA route.
OPENER
Owens will open its season tonight at 6 p.m. against Mercyhurst North East, which is a team that finished 9-13 overall last year. They will be led by second-year head coach Amy Senefelder, who held positions at Ancilla College, Muskingum University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks prior to Mercyhurst North East.
For this year's full schedule, visit here
FOLLOW OWENS ONLINE
This year, Owens will be live streaming all home games via our YouTube page, where you can also find feature stories and post game interviews. You can visit our schedule page at OwensExpress.com for individual streaming links throughout the season. We will also be streaming several road games, and we will have live stats for nearly every game. In addition, you can get live game updates throughout the season on our Twitter page (@owensexpress). We'll post photo albums, game recaps and various items at our Facebook page, which came be found by searching Owens Express Athletics, and we'll have great photos and videos at our Instagram page, which can also be found by searching Owens Express Athletics.