Undersized Zias hit road for opener

Lindsey Wilson is pretty sure her Eastern New Mexico University women's basketball team won't be intimidating many opponents this season.

CMI correspondent: Joshua LuceroENMU sophomores Jasmine Johnson and Amber Williford reach for a rebound with freshman Jaylyn Cooper looking on during Thursday's practice at Greyhound Arena. The Zias open the 2012-13 season tonight at Oklahoma Panhandle State.

Twelve of the 14 players on the Zias' 2012-13 roster are listed as guards as they prepare for tonight's regular-season opener against Oklahoma State Panhandle at Goodwell, Okla.

"We're going to be undersized in probably every single game," said Wilson, beginning her second season at the Zias' helm. "We'll change our defenses up a lot. We'll try to be aggressive and cause turnovers, and get points off that."

The Zias went 10-17 last season, including 8-12 in the Lone Star Conference. They were eliminated by regular-season champion Tarleton State in the first round of the LSC postseason tournament.

CMI correspondent: Joshua LuceroSecond-year ENMU women's basketball coach Lindsey Wilson directs her team during Thursday's practice session at Greyhound Arena. The Zias open the 2012-13 season tonight at Oklahoma Panhandle State.

The top two scorers from last season, Precious Herrin (15.9 ppg) and Kiara Tate (11.0), are gone, along with point guard Tori Northcutt and several others.

Probably because of that, the Zias were picked for 10th place in the 11-team league, something which they say doesn't bother them.

"Obviously, we don't like being (picked) 10th, but preseason standings don't mean a lot," said senior guard Hannah Altheide of El Paso, the leading returning scorer (8.3). "I definitely think, with the team we have right now, if we play our game and make other teams play our game, we have a chance to go farther in the conference tournament than we did last year."

Wilson said she anticipated being picked near the bottom.

"That's probably where everyone sees us," she said. "I don't care, and I don't really think our girls care, either. We just have to try to get better every day."

Altheide is one of four players back from last year. The others are 5-7 senior guard Tara Johnson of Portales, and 5-9 sophomore post Jasmine Johnson and 5-9 sophomore guard Amber Williford, both from DeSoto, Texas.

Also back is 5-7 freshman guard Ashlee Pierson of Clovis, who was a redshirt last year.

Altheide will be counted on to shoot the ball from long range, and also guard one of the opponent's top players.

"She'll probably guard the other team's best guard," Wilson said. "Tara's going to play the 4 (power forward) position for us, and that gives us a chance to have a mismatch (against a bigger player) with her quickness."

Wilson said the Zias will have to employ an up-tempo style to be able to compete with the bigger LSC squads.

"The half-court game, that's not our strength," she said. "We'll have to be able to get out and play with people."

Without a go-to player like Herrin, the Zias hope they can field a more balanced attack this season.

"With this team, any day we have kids capable of stepping up and scoring," Wilson said. "We've worked hard on defense; shots aren't always going to fall, so we have to be consistent on defense."

There are five incoming freshmen on the roster, including Geri Cox of Portales and twins Jaylyn and Jordyn Cooper of Texico. Wilson said almost everybody will get a good look as she tries to formulate a rotation.

Altheide said the team should have better overall speed than a year ago.

"We have so many girls with energy," she said. "We're going to try to get teams out of their tempo and playing our tempo."

Wilson said Tarleton State and West Texas A&M look like the teams to beat going in.

"They'll probably be the top two teams," she said, "but after that it'll be pretty wide-open."

Roster

No. Name, Hometown Ht. Yr. Pos.

1 Geri Cox, Portales 5-2 Fr. PG

3 Ashlee Pierson, Clovis 5-7 Fr. G

4 Jordyn Cooper, Texico 5-10 Fr. G

5 Lakeeyscia Griffin, El Paso 5-2 So. PG

10 Tara Johnson, Portales 5-7 Sr. G

12 Hannah Altheide, El Paso 5-9 Sr. G

21 Taylor Collier, Fort Worth, Texas 5-9 Jr. G

22 Amber Williford, DeSoto, Texas 5-9 So. G

23 Alexa Candelaria, El Paso 5-8 Jr. G

24 Jaylyn Cooper, Texico 5-10 Fr. G

31 Nelsha Peterson, Palestine, Texas 6-0 Fr. F

32 Shamprea Henderson, Orlando, Fla. 5-5 Jr. G

33 Jasmine Johnson, DeSoto, Texas 5-9 So. P

34 Elise Martinez, Lumberton, N.M. 5-6 Fr. G

Coach: Lindsey Wilson (2nd year, 10-17). Assistant coach: Amy Pryor. Graduate assistant: Vanessa O'Neal. Student assistant: Kiara Tate.

November

9 — at Oklahoma Panhandle State, 5 p.m.; 16-17 — Grand Canyon Tip-Off Classic at Phoenix (16 vs. Grand Canyon, 6 p.m.; 17 — vs. Southern Nazarene, 4 p.m.); 24 — Wayland Baptist, 2 p.m.; 28 — Angelo State, 5:30 p.m.-x.

December

1 — at Abilene Christian, 1 p.m.-x; 12 — at Cameron, 5 p.m.-x; 17-19 — AT&T Hoops Classic at Anchorage, Alaska (17 vs. Cal State-Los Angeles, 3 p.m.; 18 — vs. Ala.-Anchorage, 5 p.m.; 19 vs. BYU Hawaii, 3 p.m.); 31 — Midwestern State, 2 p.m.-x.

January

5 — Texas Woman's, 2 p.m.-x; 10 — at Texas A&M-Kingsville, 5 p.m.-x; 12 — at Incarnate Word, 1 p.m.-x; 16 — Tarleton State, 5:30 p.m.-x; 19 — at Texas A&M-Commerce, 6 p.m.-x; 23 — West Texas A&M, 5:30 p.m.-x; 26 — at West Texas A&M, 3 p.m.-x; 30 — at Angelo State, 4:30 p.m.-x.

February

2 — Abilene Christian, 2 p.m.-x; 6 — Cameron, 5:30 p.m.-x; 9 — at Midwestern State, 3 p.m.-x; 16 — at Texas Woman's, 1 p.m.-x; 21 — Texas A&M-Kingsville, 5:30 p.m.-x; 23 — Incarnate Word, 2 p.m.-x; 27 — at Tarleton State, 5 p.m.-x.

March

2 — Texas A&M-Commerce, 2 p.m.-x.

All times MST. x-Denotes Lone Star Conference games