Women's Basketball tips off Mandley era at Arkansas Baptist

The Wiley College women's basketball team will start their first season under head coach DeWitte Mandley at 5:30 p.m. at Arkansas Baptist College.

No coverage information was provided as of press time. This will be the third straight season that the Lady Wildcats have opened on the road. They are 10-7 in season openers dating back to 2005 and are 1-2 when opening on the road.

For the fourth straight season, the Lady Wildcats open with a new head coach. Mandley started in June after spending the past three seasons as an assistant men's basketball coach at Langston University. He inherits a team that returns eight players, who helped the Lady Wildcats to a 16-10 record and a Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament berth.

Diamond Hawthorne earned a Preseason First Team All-GCAC selection after ranking in the top 10 of the conference with 11.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. She earned GCAC Player of the Week twice and was selected to the All-GCAC second team.

Minnie Miller ranked in the top 10 of the GCAC with seven rebounds per game. She had seven double-digit rebounding games and five double-figure scoring games. Tamia Dolls was seventh in the conference with 2.5 assists per game. She had five double-digit scoring games with three coming in the last week of the season.

Also returning are reserves Jay'lann Myles, Kiersten Harris, Ashunti Cooper, Kewaysha Alsup and Elizabeth Camacho. Alayia Francis who was one of the recruits brought in by the late Tiffany Jackson, will play this season.

Mandley added five players, three freshmen and two transfers. Cailan Hale helped Cedar Hill High School reach the Class 6A Regional Finals twice and the Regional Quarterfinals twice. Brianna Garrett played on Tyler Junior College's 2022 National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship Team.

Arkansas Baptist is coming off a 12-9 season – including a 4-1 record in Continental Athletic Conference games. It returns 11 players from last season – including leading scorer and rebounder Jessica Nerestant. She grabbed 25 rebounds in the two games against Wiley College last season.

The Lady Wildcats and Buffaloes will meet for the fifth time on Saturday. Wiley College took a 3-1 series lead with a 68-64 victory during last year's Homecoming and 62-59 on the road.

Wiley College begins its second season as a member of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. It was picked to finish fourth out of 10 teams in the preseason poll.

For more coverage on the Lady Wildcats visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/wbkb/index.

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