The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHORT handed for their initial appearance in the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championships, Dayton head coach Tamika Williams-Jeter expects her Flyers women’s basketball team will be much better when they return in two years with a much improved squad that includes Bahamian Denika Lightbourne.

Lightbourne, currently in her senior year at Tallulah Falls, recently signed her letter of intent to play for the Flyers in the Atlantic 10 Conference in August. The Flyers, with only seven players in uniform, lost their two games played in the Baha Mar Hoops Tournament this week at Baha Mar.

Looking back at their two losses against Ole Miss Rebels on Monday and the Kentucky Wildcats on Wednesday, Williams-Jeter said they got “beat up and bruised” as they prepare to return to the United States to play in their tournament.

“We didn’t have the numbers like everybody else, but we played and hung with them for as long as we could,” said Williams-Jeter after watching the Rebels break away from a 44-44 tie to pull off a 63-50 win before they got pounded 70-44 by the Wildcats.

Williams-Jeter said being here for the tournament and watching the reception that Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin from Grand Bahama received from the public, she anticipates that they will be looking forward to their return in two years with Lightbourne being a key factor in the Flyers’ line-up.

“I know one thing is we will have a sold out crowd and we will be fed very well,” Williams-Jeter projected. “But Denika did very well for the Bahamian national team. She was one of the best players on the team, although she’s very young.

“She’s thirsty and I think she will fit in our programme very well. She’s an excellent ball-handler with a high basketball IQ. So I’m very excited what she will bring to our team and how we can improve on our performances when we return here in two years.”

As a combo guard, Lightbourne is considered to be a great ball handler, according to Williams- Jeter, who played college basketball for the highly acclaimed University of Connecticut Huskies.

“Whether she’s handling the ball or receiving a pass or starting the break, she’s just a freak of an athlete,” Williams-Jeter said.

“So she will bring some athleticism and allow us to defend a little more. I think she will be another weapon that we can rely on.”

Lightbourne, one of five freshmen signees, is expected to join the entire team that represented the Flyers in the Pink Flamingo Championships as coach Williams-Jeter works on the cohesiveness they experienced here.

“We have nobody on this team that has played college basketball last year, so they are just getting their feet wet in these caliber of tournaments,” Williams- Jeter said.

“They’re all that young. So I think I would rather get punched in the face from Ole Miss so that they can get better.

“We punched them back, but they had too much fire power down the stretch to pull away from us. And for us to play two games in three days, with only seven players, we just didn’t have enough to contend with Kentucky.

“For us, we go back and play in the Atlantic Conference, which is not as tough as the SEC Conference. There’s nobody playing in our conference that’s as tough as these teams we played, so we should turn it up a notch because of these experiences when we play in our conference.”

Williams-Jeter just urges the Bahamian public to get ready to watch one of the most exciting college players in Lightbourne when they make their return to the Bahamas in two years for their second appearance in the Baha Mar Hoops.