Chris Whitaker
AMERICUS — With recruiting almost complete, Georgia Southwestern women’s basketball coach Kelly Britsky looks forward to the 2009-10 basketball season.
“You always look forward to a new season and seeing what’s going to happen,” said Britsky, who enters her third season. “We’re starting off with three exhibitions, and if everything works out, we’ll start the season against Albany State. It’s definitely not an easy opener, but I’d like to see it become a rival situation. It could be a lot of fun.”
GSW will play all of its exhibitions on the road starting Nov. 2 at Mercer; it will play at LaGrange on Nov. 5 and then Georgia State on Nov. 10.
The Lady Hurricanes will play two ranked teams from the Peach Belt and two others that received votes to end the season. They will also play new PBC members Flagler and Montevallo, and they will finish the season with eight of their last 11 games at home.
With the two new members, the PBC will be split into two divisions. On GSW’s side — it will play these teams in a home-and-home — is Clayton State, Columbus State, North Georgia, Georgia College and Montevallo. GSW will play the other conference teams once.
“With the divisions, I think it’s better for everybody,” said Britsky. “You’re definitely in a situation when you ask which is the stronger side, I’m not sure I can answer that. On the other side, I think there’s a definite top four and bottom three. Don’t know who’ll be on the top on our aside after Columbus and Clayton.”
For now, Augusta State will rotate divisions until another member is added, said Britsky.
The Lady Hurricanes finished last season 8-19 and 3-17 in conference play, with their wins in the PBC coming against North Georgia, USC-Aiken and Augusta State. GSW also lost seven conference games by single-digits.
It returns its top three scorers from last season in Nadirah Gardner (11.5), Brandi Burris (11.2) and Brittany Reynolds (10.9), and they are losing seven total players.
Britsky said last season was much improved, and she expects even more entering the 2009-10 season.
“It’s interesting. You get pumped up about who you sign, then you find out who everybody else signed, and you’re like, ‘Oh, wow,’” she said. “It’s been an incredible year of recruiting for everybody. I don’t know how we’ll match up, but I think we will be stronger than last year.”
Britsky said they will have to do a better job of defending their home court, and she said the stretch to end the season is the perfect opportunity. The conference tournament, which will be at Aiken the next two years, takes the top four teams on both sides.
“We’ve got to be better than two teams on our side,” she said. “There’s not a weak team in the group. We’re going to have to fight it out. Once we get into that stretch to end the season, those last two (home) games could be huge games.”
