Lineup tweaks aren’t over for the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team, which will have some new faces in key roles during the next few games. Lady Eagle coach Rusty Cram didn’t reveal specifics but said he’s seen a little too much complacency recently.
“We are letting these kids decide everyday who’s getting the minutes out there,” he said. “We made the commitment as a staff that we’re going to play the people that are busting their butt out there everyday. We’ll see how the other ones respond who haven’t been producing.”
The Eagles (5-8, 1-1) didn’t have the outcome they were looking for during a post-Christmas tournament in Virginia when they dropped a pair of games to Boston University and Morgan State. They’ll look to rebound today at noon when they return to Southern Conference play at UNC Greensboro. GSU’s men will also battle the Spartans on the road today (3 p.m. SportSouth).
The Lady Eagles will be without sophomore guard Elise Whitney, who is out for the season after tearing her ACL during the tournament. Whitney, who also missed the second half of last season with an injury, has provided a spark off the bench (4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds a game), and the Eagles are in need of someone to fill her void.
Other than Whitney, GSU is as healthy as it’s been in quite a while, said Cram, who is pleased sophomore forward J’Lisia Ogburn has turned the major corner he’d hoped she would.
“That’s got me more encouraged than anything,” he said. “She had a very good tournament as far as number of minutes played and production. I’m very excited about that. It seems to be lifting us up now in some areas we needed.”
Cram has been hammering home the importance of improving the Eagles’ transition game, speed and defense.
“We are just too slow right now,” he said. “I want to get it up and down the court a lot quicker. Right now I feel like we are a better basketball team than when the season started. We’ve just got some more areas we’ve got to continue to get better in. We’ve got two more months of the season to continue that. We have some young kids that are starting to step up right now.”
Georgia Southern anticipates seeing a lot of zone defense from UNCG (3-10, 1-1), which recently snapped a four-game skid with back-to-back wins over Chowan and Furman. Cram believes GSU has a good shot at winning today, provided the Eagles play like they’re capable of.
“It’s tough this time of year when all the students are at home enjoying the holidays and our kids are here working everyday and are the only ones on campus,” Cram said. “But we’re fighting through it. We feel like we are still getting better every time we play and that’s the key for me.”
The Eagles travel to Elon Monday and return home next Saturday for a 3 p.m. game against Wofford.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
“We are letting these kids decide everyday who’s getting the minutes out there,” he said. “We made the commitment as a staff that we’re going to play the people that are busting their butt out there everyday. We’ll see how the other ones respond who haven’t been producing.”
The Eagles (5-8, 1-1) didn’t have the outcome they were looking for during a post-Christmas tournament in Virginia when they dropped a pair of games to Boston University and Morgan State. They’ll look to rebound today at noon when they return to Southern Conference play at UNC Greensboro. GSU’s men will also battle the Spartans on the road today (3 p.m. SportSouth).
The Lady Eagles will be without sophomore guard Elise Whitney, who is out for the season after tearing her ACL during the tournament. Whitney, who also missed the second half of last season with an injury, has provided a spark off the bench (4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds a game), and the Eagles are in need of someone to fill her void.
Other than Whitney, GSU is as healthy as it’s been in quite a while, said Cram, who is pleased sophomore forward J’Lisia Ogburn has turned the major corner he’d hoped she would.
“That’s got me more encouraged than anything,” he said. “She had a very good tournament as far as number of minutes played and production. I’m very excited about that. It seems to be lifting us up now in some areas we needed.”
Cram has been hammering home the importance of improving the Eagles’ transition game, speed and defense.
“We are just too slow right now,” he said. “I want to get it up and down the court a lot quicker. Right now I feel like we are a better basketball team than when the season started. We’ve just got some more areas we’ve got to continue to get better in. We’ve got two more months of the season to continue that. We have some young kids that are starting to step up right now.”
Georgia Southern anticipates seeing a lot of zone defense from UNCG (3-10, 1-1), which recently snapped a four-game skid with back-to-back wins over Chowan and Furman. Cram believes GSU has a good shot at winning today, provided the Eagles play like they’re capable of.
“It’s tough this time of year when all the students are at home enjoying the holidays and our kids are here working everyday and are the only ones on campus,” Cram said. “But we’re fighting through it. We feel like we are still getting better every time we play and that’s the key for me.”
The Eagles travel to Elon Monday and return home next Saturday for a 3 p.m. game against Wofford.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.
