Owens Express Women’s B-Ball Opens Season Against Lourdes
PERRYSBURG TOWNSHIP, OH – Owens Community College women’s basketball will look build on last year’s successful season as the Express open its 2011-12 campaign against Lourdes University JVs on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The season opener will begin at 5:30 p.m.
The Owens women’s basketball program is led by eighth-year Head Coach Michael Llanas. During his seventh year at the helm, Llanas led the Express to a 27-5 overall record and captured its first Ohio Community College Athletic Conference title (11-1 record) since the 2006-07 campaign. Owens, which was ranked No. 11 in the final NJCAA Division II Women’s Basketball poll, lost to Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in the finals of the NJCAA Region XII Championships. Llanas’ Assistant Coaches are Stephen Perry and Jessica Lewis.
All home games are free and take place at the College’s Student Health and Activities Center on the Toledo-area Campus. Owens is located on Oregon Road in Perrysburg Township.
“We have a great group of talented student-athletes comprising this year’s Owens Community College Express women’s basketball team,” Llanas stated. “However, we are extremely young with only three veteran returners from a year ago. The three second-year student-athletes did play significant roles last year and the coaching staff is counting on them to provide leadership on and off the court. The teams from the past few years have set the bar extremely high with their success and our goal is to continue that tradition.”
The Express have three players returning from last year’s conference championship team, including Aja Hall of Fostoria (Fostoria H.S.), Hailey Galvan of Archbold (Archbold H.S.) and Kieona Foster of Lima (Lima Shawnee H.S.). In 2010-11, Hall earned OCCAC All-Conference Second Team honors. The sophomore forward led the team with a 14.8 points per game average. Additionally, Hall averaged 7.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals during the season. Galvan, a sophomore center, averaged 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds for the Express. She earned team Defensive Player of the Year honors and ranked No. 3 in nation with an average of 3.2 blocks per game. Foster is a sophomore point guard and averaged 3.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the women’s basketball program last year. Her postseason honors included being named the recipient of the Coaches Award.
First-year players to the Express women’s basketball program are Uniqua Mitchell of Detroit, point guard (Martin Luther King H.S.); Essence Miller of Flint, Mich., guard (Beecher H.S.); Danielle Bezeau of Swanton, guard (Swanton H.S.); Ellen Riser of Fostoria, point guard (St. Wendelin Catholic School); Emma Ricketts of Waterville, forward (Anthony Wayne H.S.); Mackenzie Heacock of Arlington, guard (Arlington H.S.); Karahn Scott of Toledo, forward (Scott H.S.); Alyssa Lassey of Ida, Mich., guard (Ida H.S.), and Bailee Adams of Genoa, forward (Genoa H.S.).
Press Release Contact Name: Brad Meyer
Press Release Contact Email: [email protected]
Organization Name: Owens Community College