University of Houston Athletics
Women's Basketball Opens Preseason Practice
10/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 15, 2005
HOUSTON, Texas - The University of Houston women's basketball team kicked off preparations for the 2005-06 season with its first preseason practice, a two-hour workout in Hofheinz Pavilion Saturday.
"I was excited with our intensity and effort," head coach Joe Curl said. "I thought we did a good job of listening and executing as well. We are going to need to be a great defensive team and really need to hustle to compete this season. We have a long way to go, but we will get there."
The workout started a bit out of the ordinary as the Cougars enjoyed a quick game of dodgeball before stretching.
"We wanted to loosen things up a little bit," Curl said. "It was more for fun than anything but also to get rid of some of the nervous energy. We have a lot of newcomers this season, and we needed it to enable us to focus and have a good practice."
Following the opening of practice, the team worked heavily on fundamentals with an emphasis on ball handling and passing. The Cougars closed out the workout with a brief scrimmage as the coaching staff began to install the offensive and defensive sets.
The Cougars return one starter in Emily Fryters (Adelaide, S.A., Australia/Concordia College) and two key role players in Kadi Creel (Duncanville, Texas/Duncanville HS) and Jasmin Moore (Houston, Texas/Langham Creek HS). UH welcomed seven new players, including three junior college transfers and two NCAA Division I transfers.
Tye Jackson (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Purdue) and Nichelle Roberts (Houston, Texas/Westfield HS/Kansas) practiced with the team but will not be eligible to play until the close of the fall semester at UH due to NCAA transfer regulations.
The Cougars play host to a pair of exhibitions game on Nov. 4 and Nov. 8 against ev1.net and the Houston Jaguars, respectively. Both contests are scheduled for a 7 p.m. CDT start at Hofheinz Pavilion. UH opens the regular season on Nov. 18 at Big Ten foe Wisconsin.
