Five freshmen and three sophomores make up one of the youngest teams in the Atlantic 10 that will look to duplicate the milestone set by the 2018 senior class.
“We need nametags!” quipped Saint Louis coach Lisa Stone, who graduated six seniors, including the most decorated player in school history in point guard Jackie Kemph.
Stone tasked this team with some summer reading in handing out copies of “The Power of a Positive Team” by Jon Gordon, who stands by a mantra that stresses positivity leads to winning.
“I couldn’t be more excited about this team,” Stone said. “They keep me young.”
With that in mind, sophomore guard Tasia Jeffries challenged these Billikens with a “Why not us?” attitude, and with a 600-plus game winner like Stone leading the way, who’s to say Saint Louis won’t be challenging for the A-10 crown again?
A look at the Billikens:
Coach: Lisa Stone, 7th season at Saint Louis, 107-86, 33rd season overall, 610-323
Last year: 17-16, 9-7 Atlantic 10 (Lost to Saint Joseph’s 58-49 in the semifinals of the A-10 Championship; lost at Kansas State 75-61 in the first round of the WNIT).
They’ll miss: Point guard Jackie Kemph, who three times earned a spot on the All-Conference first team and holds the school’s career marks for points and assists. Kemph was a two-time conference player of the year.
Impact returners: 6-foot senior guard Jordyn Frantz, started 27 of 33 games, averaged 8.2 ppg; 5-10 redshirt senior guard Kerri McMahan(4.4 ppg).
Newbies of note: 6-4 redshirt junior center Amber Lindfors, who started 57 of 58 games at Valparaiso and led the Horizon League in blocks both of those seasons. Averaged 7.8 ppg and 7.5 rpg and led Valpo in FG percentage (.477) as a sophomore.
Reasons to be optimistic: Stone’s resume, which includes 68 victories the last three seasons, sets the tone for this program, which has made three postseason appearances in the last three years.
It’s a team of shooters and athletes and underclassmen, who will get significant playing time.
“Our freshmen have to play this year,” Stone said, and there’s reason to believe they’ll be able to put up some points.
A look at their resumes:
Freshman center Brooke Flowers finished her career as the state’s all-time leader in rebounds, blocks and double-doubles, while scoring 2,045 points at Metro High in St. Louis. Her high school career includes 20 triple-doubles; with her back to the basket she’s money.
Freshman guard Ciaja Harbison scored 1,531 points at Male High School in Louisville. Freshman guard Chloe Rice amassed 1,289 points at Marion (Iowa) High, and freshman forward Evan Zars had a .625 field-goal percentage her senior year at Mill Valley High in Shawnee, Kansas. Add in freshman guard Myia Clark,with 1,695 career points at Saint Viator High outside of Chicago.
Circle the date: Dec. 4, hosting UConn. Yep, Geno’s Huskies are coming to town and Stone anticipates a sold-out gym. This will be a chance for UConn’s Napheesa Collier to play near her hometown, O’Fallon, Missouri, about 45 minutes north of St. Louis.
Bottom line: Early tests against Virginia, Missouri and of course the 11-time national champion Huskies will be daunting for this young group, but under Stone’s tutelage, we’re betting these Billikens can pull off a few upsets during conference season while building for the future.
