The Piedmont Women’s Basketball team is ready to build on its legacy. With an impressive 20-8 season and a conference championship last year, the Lady Lions are hungry for more. With a conference championship under their belt, Head Coach Jamie Purdy hopes the Lions will go even further.
“Winning the conference tournament is great,” said Purdy, who is entering her 21st season for the Lady Lions and holds an overall career record of 398-190. “It’s what you do after that — that is how you can make history.”
Coming into the new season, the Lady Lions have lost some of their valuable players to graduation, including last year’s leading scorer Andelin Hill (14.2 ppg) and key player Ashley Scott (who led the team with 42 3-pointers and 37 steals), but Purdy is confident that this year’s crew will come together, and new leaders will emerge on the court that will carry further into the postseason.
“We are in this together, we all want the same end goal, and they have to be ready for what is going to come,” said Head Coach Jamie Purdy, who is entering her 21st season coaching the Lady Lions with a career record of 367-169.
Regardless of the key departures, Purdy thinks the team is ready to build on its CCS tournament champion title.
“It all starts with the little things. It starts in practice with the little drills and paying attention to the little details,” Purdy said.
The team is really relying on its six seniors to step up and become leaders of the group. One player is senior Kelsey Banks, who is ready to take on a bigger role in her last season after a great junior season, scoring 174 points and averaging 6.2 points per game.
“As a senior coming off last year’s CCS championship, I’m stepping into this season with a mindset of discipline, growth and consistency,” Banks said. “Although I missed the first eight practices due to a foot injury, I’ve stayed engaged and focused on supporting the team from the sidelines. Now that I am able to return to the court, I’m excited to help our group build chemistry and continue raising our standard of play. With many new faces, we’re still learning how to play together, but the effort, connection, and drive are already there- so that gives me a lot of confidence about what we can achieve this season.”
Another key player will be Ava Hunter, who is entering her senior year with the program. After transferring in from the University of North Georgia, she appeared in 21 games and scored 163 points for the Lions last season. Hunter is expected to lead and help carry the Lady Lions on and off the court this year.
“We’re so excited for the season to start. We have so many new faces and lots of returning faces to help lead the way,” said Hunter. “We have really high expectations this year and can’t wait to get to work being the best people and players we can be on and off the court.”
Coach Purdy expects all returners to step up this season. Even though they lost their top scorer to graduation, she wants to see multiple players step into that role.
“It does not have to be one person,” coach Purdy said. “Other people have to be able to step up and be a weapon rather than just having that one person.”
The Lady Lions are hopeful they have what it takes to win a consecutive championship with a mix of returning players and seven newcomers — six of them being freshmen. Coach Purdy said the team used its preseason practices to build chemistry.
“We used it as an opportunity to get a feel of what we are working with,” she said.“These eight days are important to see how these kids are going to mesh together for the season.”
The Lady Lions will kick off their season at home on Nov. 8 against Oglethorpe in Cave Arena.
