Update 11/7: Georgia Southern's scheduled 2023-24 season opener against Allen (S.C.), set for tonight, has been moved to Wednesday, November 8, at 6 p.m. at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Georgia Southern women's basketball had another milestone season in 2022-23, collecting 20 wins for the first time in 20 seasons and advancing to the national postseason for the first time in nearly 30 years, keeping the momentum building for a program that has shown tremendous growth over the last four seasons.
But Head Coach Anita Howard and a veteran Eagle squad head into this season with a distinct sense of unfinished business as they continue to build that growth and move the needle with a program that people talk about across the Sun Belt Conference and the nation.
Two disappointing postseason losses overshadowed all the accomplishments of the year - although, only briefly. If anything, the memories of how the season ended last year just served to fuel the fire for the Eagles to have an even better campaign in 2023-24.
So what will it take for the Eagles to accomplish even more this season?
"With such a veteran squad, we're going to have to have discipline," Coach Howard said. "We understand what we want with the culture and the standard, but we have to not be complacent with what we did last year. We have to be hungrier."
Georgia Southern went 21-10 overall and 12-6 in the Sun Belt Conference, tying for fourth in the league standings, but finishing the year only one game out of first place in the league. It's incredibly competitive, and will get even more so this upcoming year, forcing the Eagles to work even harder to attain their goal of competing for a championship.
"You talk about the teams that were on the bottom last year, they pretty much all have new coaches," Coach Howard said. "They're all great coaches who have brought in a lot of talented players for their rosters. There's not going to be an off night in the league this year. So you talk about that in practice. How do you stack consistent practices, because we've got to be able to stack consistent games. You've got to be able to stack consistent quarters. We were up on teams last year and let up, while we were down against teams last year and fought to the end. Consistency is going to be key, day in and day out."
The Eagles return four starters and 10 players overall from last season's squad, so the roster has plenty of experience to build on heading into the year. And perhaps the most experienced position is the point guard spot, where graduate Ja'nya Love-Hill (5-5, Gr., Columbus, Ga.) returns for her fifth collegiate season and her fourth season as the starter. Tied for 10th all-time in Georgia Southern history in assists with 266, Love-Hill will make a serious charge at the all-time assist record this year. Constance Thomas (5-8, Sr., Plant City, Fla.) set new highs for assists and points as a junior last season as Love-Hill's primary backup, while sophomore East Georgia State College transfer Torrion Starks (5-8, Soph., Hartwell, Ga.) will enter the point guard rotation in her first year with the Eagles.
"I think we're going to go as far as our point guards take us," Coach Howard said. "You have to have a level head in this league, because you're going to see a lot of different defenses and a lot of different offenses. The point guard is our coach on the floor. Ja'nya has been here for five years, and has played a lot of minutes. Now we're able to sit her down and let her come in fresh later because we have some other veterans who can play. I'm really excited about our point guards this year."
The two-guard spot undergoes a little transition with the graduation of transfers Le'Andrea Gillis and Andreana Wrister, both long-range shooting specialists. Senior Simone James (5-10, Sr., San Diego, Calif.) returns as the starter, but will be aided by sophomore Paris Miller (5-10, Soph., Hampton, Ga.), looking to make strides after her freshman season. Starks and Thomas will see time at the two-guard, as well incoming freshman Kanija Daniel (5-10, Fr., Carrollton, Ga.) and preseason All-Sun Belt selection Terren Ward (5-11, Sr., Jesup, Ga.).
"We always say about our two guard that you've gotta put the round thing in the round thing," Coach Howard said. "We have a lot of different players that can do that, and they're not just your typical long-range shooter. We had some great three-point shooters last year, but now we have multiple types of scorers at the position. You've got slashers, you've got shooters, and big guards - we should not have a problem scoring from that spot."
Ward is entrenched at the three spot as the 1,000+ point scorer and first-team All-Sun Belt selection returns for her senior season with an eye repeating as the league's leading scorer. But as Ward is versatile enough to shift positions, the Eagles have a bevy of players who can contribute at the spot. Returners Amoni Byrd (5-9, Soph., Bayside, N.Y.) and Eden Johnson (6-2, R-Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.) will see minutes at the three, along with Gulf Coast State transfer Zaria Johnson (6-1, Jr., Houston, Texas) and incoming freshman Liv Fuller (5-10, Fr., Clearwater, Fla.).
"Our three is our swing man," Coach Howard said. "They can score like a two, but be stronger, like a four. I'm excited that we have a variety of different looks, depending on what we need in this league. If we need to go big and stronger, we can do that. If we need to go faster and more aggressive, we can do that. So there'll be different ways that the three position looks."
Eden Johnson returns as the starter at the four spot, and other threes such as Byrd, Zaria Johnson and Fuller will step up to the four at times during the season as well. But the Eagles are also encouraged with the progress of Diamond Stokes (6-3, Sr., Chicago, Ill.), who had 14 points in the WBI Third Place game against ETSU.
"We've done a good job in building with the fours that we have, but also recruiting to what we want the position to look like," Coach Howard said. "Eden has been our starting four for a while, and that's a big guard for a four. Eden's gotten comfortable, but we're challenging her to look to take more shots. Diamond has been looking good in practice as we finally had her for a full summer. She's shooting the three and rebounding like crazy. Our fours can stretch it, can be a bully on the inside but also can run and get out in transition. We have a lot of good options."
Finally, the center spot features three returnees and one big addition, all measuring 6-1 to 6-5. Shy Booker (6-1, Grad., Charlotte, N.C.) started 13 games last season, but Lydia Freeman (6-5, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.) and Stokes are both in the mix to start as well. The Eagles also added Penn State transfer Kayla Thomas (6-3, Jr., Beltsville, Md.) through the transfer portal.
"Lydia was named one of our captains," Coach Howard said. "And when you look at her first year to now, talk about maturation. She's given our program everything she's got. She's gotten into the weight room and gotten stronger, faster and better conditioning to play more minutes. When Lydia comes into the game, she makes an immediate impact. We brought Kayla in for her ability to shoot and her pace of play, she brings a different type of five for us. And Shy, who started a lot for us, has gotten more comfortable in her shoes. The Sun Belt hasn't seen what she can do yet."
Coach Howard's squad will have an early opportunity to show Eagle Nation what they're all about as five of the first seven games of the season come at Hanner Fieldhouse, starting on Tuesday, Nov. 7 against Allen University. An early road test at in-state SEC foe Georgia on Nov. 11 will be a big measuring stick game for the Eagles and Georgia Southern will also host the GATA Turkey Throwdown for a second straight year over Thanksgiving, not to mention playing for the first time in Savannah's Enmarket Arena against Hampton on Dec. 19 as a part of a doubleheader with the Eagle men's squad.
Like last year, the Eagles expect to contend for a regular season Sun Belt championship, even though the league's coaches picked the team to finish just fifth in a preseason poll. In Coach Howard's four previous seasons, the Eagles have always finished better than the league's preseason poll has had the team picked.
"We're trending upwards," Coach Howard said in conclusion about her team's outlook this season. "I just want our team to move the needle. If we continue to trend upwards - we can still do that even if we have the same amount of wins as last year. At the end of the year, did we beat strong opponents? Were our losses closer? Of course, I want to cut down the nets, but if we don't, I want us to still be moving the needle in the right direction."