With less than a week away from the 2009-10 basketball season tipping off, TarletonSports.com will take a closer look at the upcoming season for the TexAnns over the next three days. Friday's preview will be of the centers/post players.
The TexAnns return two centers from last season's team that went 16-12 overall and 7-5 in the Lone Star Conference South Division. JoAnne Jones, Tarleton's lone senior on the team, and Kelsey Benford, a junior, both return to the team this year. Add in the return of Brittnie Haley, a red-shirt junior, from an injury a few years ago and head coach Ronnie Hearne has three experienced post players coming back.
RETURNING PLAYERS
Jones returns to the team after starting all 28 games her junior season in 2008-09. Jones led the team averaging 13.6 points per contest, which ranked her 12th in the LSC, and pulled down a team-high 198 rebounds as well. She recorded 90 offensive boards last year, tying her for the seventh-most in school history during a single season. Her 7.1 rebounds per contest were 11th-best in the LSC last season. The Arlington native posted a career-high 54 blocks in 2008-09, ranking her third all-time for blocks in a single season. She shot 50.9% (148-291) from the field and 70.8% (85-120) from the charity stripe. Following the season she was named a Second Team All-LSC selection. Jones heads into her senior season with 807 points, 467 rebounds and 116 blocks in her career.
Benford started four of 26 games for the TexAnns last season. Benford shot 48.8% (40-82) from the field and 45% (9-20) from the free throw line. Benford, a native of Waxahachie, collected 36 offensive rebounds and 65 defensive rebounds for a total of 101 rebounds last season. She ended the season with 12 assists and 19 steals and was second on the team with 25 blocked shots.
Haley makes her return to the court after sitting out the final four weeks of the 2007-08 season and all of 2008-09. A knee injury sidelined the then sophomore, but Haley still earned LSC Honorable Mention accolades after finishing the 07-08 season leading the TexAnns with a 11.7 points per game average. She averaged 6.3 rebounds per contest as well that year. The Duncanville native will look to improve on what would have been a stellar finalized sophomore campaign.
NOTABLES
Jones and Haley accounted for nearly 25 percent of Tarleton's 1644 points in 2006-07 when the two players were freshmen. Jones and Benford recorded 79 of Tarleton's 117 blocks last season. Jones scored 20 percent of the TexAnns 1866 points last season.
The TexAnns will host Texas-Permian Basin this coming Tuesday, Nov. 17 for the season-opener. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside Wisdom Gym.
