By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Akron, Ohio---Daichele Hatcher, a 5-4 point guard from Akron Buchtel High School, has signed with the Owens Community College women's basketball program.

As a senior, Hatcher was named the City Series Player of the Year and participated in the Women's Tri-County Basketball Coaches Association (WTCBCA) and the Stark-Summit All-Star Basketball games. She was a three-time First Team All-City Series player, and she was named First Team All-WTCBCA as a senior.

"Daichele will be one of the quickest kids we've ever had in our program," said Owens women's basketball assistant coach Stephen Perry. "Her best basketball is yet to come. She has a huge upside. She was a double digit rebounder at 5-4 and has such a knack for the ball. She anticipates so well."

Academically, Hatcher is in the top 10 of her class. She is an honor roll student who is a member of the National Honor Society. 

Hatcher joins previous signees Dai'Shona Washington-Polk and Da'Vina Shelton as one of three members so far in the 2017-18 freshmen class. The trio all played in the Stark-Summit All-Star Basketball game, and Washington-Polk was named the MVP of the game. Shelton and Washington-Polk are both seniors at Canton GlenOak (OH) High School.

NOTES

The Owens women's basketball team completed the first undefeated regular season in college history in 2016-17 before finishing with a 31-1 record. Their season ended with a loss to Cincinnati State in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Region XII District I championship game. Prior to that, though, the team completed its third straight perfect conference regular season and captured its fifth straight Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) championship en route to its undefeated regular season.

Furthermore, Owens produced a single season team record 11 games with at least 100 or more points. This year's team also broke six single season team records - fewest losses (1), 2-point FG percentage (50.5 percent), FT percentage (74.8 percent), steals (590), PPG (92.9) and PPG allowed (46.4). They tied the record for longest overall winning streak with 33 and extended the records for consecutive regular season wins to 44 and consecutive regular season conference wins to 51.

On top of that, as a team, Owens led the conference in total points (1,478), PPG (92.4), FG made per game (36.1), FG attempts per game (80.6), 3-point FGs made per game (7.1), 3-point FGs attempt per game (21.6), 3-point FG percentage (32.7), FT percentage (74.6), offensive rebounds per game (21.3), total rebounds per game (51.7), assists per game (22.3), steals per game (19.6), blocks per game (7.3), PPG allowed (46.0), opponents FG percentage (28.3) and opponents 3-point FG percentage (20.2). 

Sophomores Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio) and Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) were named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American team, while Reese became the program's first two-time NJCAA All-American. Furthermore, Reese was named the OCCAC player of the year, while Bethea was named the OCCAC defensive player of the year. Freshmen Essence Cowan (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio) and Brenda Pennington (Bishop Noll/Hammond, Ind.) were named Second Team and Honorable Mention All-OCCAC, respectively. Cowan earned a spot on the OCCAC's All-Freshmen team. Head coach Michael Llanas was named the OCCAC coach of the year for the third consecutive season. 

In additon to all that, the program has now won at least 25 games in each of the past eight seasons. Over that span, they have compiled a 226-38 record, including a 97-9 record in OCCAC play. Llanas is now 327-97 in his 13-year tenure at Owens.