Live Stats

ROCK HILL, SC-- The Winthrop women's basketball team opens the 2011-12 season Sunday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. on the road against Troy University. It is the first ever match-up between the two schools.
Today's game marks a new era in Winthrop women's basketball as Marlene Stollings makes her debut as a head coach, the 13th different head coach in Winthrop school history.
Stollings hopes to bring the Lady Eagle program to a new level, starting today.
Stollings inherited a young team with a couple of seasoned veterans that she and her staff have been drilling their style into all preseason.
The first year head coach has made it no secret that she wants to play faster and get more shots than the Lady Eagles have played in recent years.
Winthrop returns four of its top five scorers from a season ago, which includes the 2010-11 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year in Dequesha McClanahan.
McClanahan led the team in scoring at 12.5 points, assists with 110 and steals with 64.
The 5-8 guard set Winthrop freshman records in minutes and games played/started.
Senior forward Kaitlyn Rubino was third on the team in scoring at 6.7 points and led the team in field goal percentage at .491.
Senior center TaQuoia Hammick finished the 2010-11 season strong with back-to-back double-doubles in the conference tournament. In face she had three double-doubles in her last five games of the year and recorded 10 or more rebounds in eight games. Hammick also led the team in blocked shots with 28.
Another returning starter is junior forward/guard Mary Hathaway, who had career-bests in points per game (5.7) and rebounds (5.1). Hathaway is capable of knocking down the three and scoring inside.
An unknown talent on the team is red-shirt freshman Samiya Wright, who sat out last season after a season-ending injury the first week of preseason.
Wright has the ability to play both guard positions and should help take some scoring responsibility away from McClanahan.
Another new weapon for the Lady Eagles this season is junior Diana Choibekova, who transferred from Daytona State College.
Choibekova has good size for a guard and is a shooter and a scorer, according to Stollings. Chobi, as she's known to her coaching staff and teammates, is another addition that should help shoulder some of the scoring load.
Troy is led by Michael Murphy, in his 10th season and coming off a 5-25 year in which the team lost nine straight games to end the 2010-11 season (four of which were 10 points or less).
All five wins from a year ago were at home. The team suffered several injuries last season and will welcome those players back.
It was a team that played just 12 home games and like Winthrop, struggled offensively. However, Troy finished 288th in the country with a 56.0 points per game average while the Lady Eagles were 326th with a 51.5 average.
Like Winthrop, Troy has a large number of returning players, including four-of-five starters. The one starting player not returning is the team's top scorer in Donette McNair at 14.1 ppg.
Senior guard DeAngela Sword returns as the top scorer at 12.6 per game last year. She shot 39 percent from the floor and was second on the team with 28 treys.
Also returning is junior Kirsten Smith, who scored 10 points in the opening game before missing the entire season. She also had seven rebounds in the game.
Murphy also added five players that includes some height with Ashley Johnson (Atlanta, GA) and Kourtney Coleman (Red Banks, MS), who are both six-footers. Guard Jasmine Pitts will have to sit out the first semester due to transfer rules. Freshmen Peggy Smith and Rosie Hynes are both guards with lots of success at the prep level.