Women's basketball hits the hardwood
ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's basketball team opens their 2021-22 home schedule on Fri., Nov. 12 and hosts Master's College in the Hutton Sports Center. After an absence of conference basketball in the 2020-21 season, all nine teams are back on the hardwood with SCIAC play slated to begin on Dec. 1.
The Panthers take the court with some key returning talent from the 2019-20 season after finishing sixth in the SCIAC with an 8-8 conference record. 2020 Second Team All-SCIAC senior Julianna Campas returns for her fourth year as a Panther. She started every game in 2019-20 and averaged 14.5 points per game as well as 1.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game. She tallied 20-plus points in eight games and dished out a career high 25 against Hardin-Simmons. She led the squad with 68 made three-pointers and averaged 31.3 minutes per game.
Senior Brittany McPherson returns to the court after appearing in 25 games during the 2019-20 season. She returned from a sidelined freshman season after suffering an ACL injury. She led the team with 2.6 assists per game and scored 6.9 points while avereging 3.8 rebounds per game. She tallied five games with at least five assists and posted a double-double against La Verne.
Senior Julia Strand returns to the court after suffering a season ending injury in 2019-20. In her 14 active games, she ranked second on the team with 15.1 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game. The Seattle, Wash. native secured a career-best six steals in a win over Caltech and posted four double-doubles on the year.
Head Coach Carol Jue noted promising new additions to the roster alongside the returning leadership. 2020 Esperanza High School Female Athlete of the Year, Katie Kubo will bring her dynamic defense to the court. Freshman Kylee Ishibashi joins the team from Millikan and harnesses energy in her drives to the basket and ability to hit her shots from beyond the arc.
The team looks to capitalize on the quickness and strong defense present in the 2021-22 roster. The Panthers kick off the season with home games on Friday against Masters at 5 p.m. and on Saturday against Linfield at 5 p.m. Chapman will begin conference play on the road when they face the Caltech Beavers on Wed., Dec. 1.