Chapman University
2007-08 Women's Basketball
Season Preview

The Chapman University women’s basketball team begins the 2007-08 season with something it hasn’t had in quite some time: returning starters. The Panthers will return four players that started 17 games or more and have and a wealth of experience in their quest to return to the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.

Even though the Panthers return all but three players from a team that went 23-6, including a school record 17-game winning streak, head coach Carol Jue still thinks the team has many obstacles to overcome. Most importantly, Jue stresses team unity.

"Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable," said Jue, who enters the season just two victories shy of 100 for her head coaching career.

The inspirational quote is printed largely on yellow pieces of paper that Jue keeps handy to remind her team of the importance of unity, which she says has progressed through the course of the preseason.

"We are really trying to sell concepts like trust and family," said Jue. "We need to get everyone in the program to buy-in."

The Panthers have something else they didn’t have all of last year: depth. The roster size increased from nine to 15 which allows Jue to utilize her run-‘n-gun style of play, a signature of her tenure as head coach at Chapman.

"We want to tire teams out and make them uncomfortable," said Jue.

The Panthers will depend on their veteran leadership to reach and surpass their expectations. Junior Lauren Kamiyama (12.3 ppg, 134 assists) will play a big role from the point guard position in pushing the ball up the court. Chapman also hopes junior G Nicole Hayman can match her outstanding play from a year ago when she led the team with 19.0 points per game. Kamiyama and Hayman are just two of the top-five scorers that Chapman returns.

Senior G Amelia Perez (7.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg) will play a key role off the bench for the Panthers this year. Jue expects Perez to provide a spark for the Panthers on both ends of the floor. Leading the defensive swarm will be sophomore G Linda Ly who was one of four Panthers with 35-plus steals last season. Meanwhile, senior F Natasha Belou (11.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg) returns, having led Chapman in rebounding in 2006-07.

The surplus of returning players mixed with a talented incoming class has raised Jue’s expectations for this year’s team which she believes will match and surpass the success of last season.

"This team is capable of the 17-game run we had last year," said Jue. "It’s a matter of bringing it all together and playing as a team."

The Panthers are no longer satisfied with simply making their eighth consecutive postseason – a feat that has never been done by a Chapman team – but want to get past the second round for the first time since Jue took over the program in 2003.