10/29/09 - Madison County
By: Jonathan Huskey
9:19 p.m.
The
Union University women's basketball
team finished the 2008-09 season
with a record of 37-1 and won the TranSouth conference and national
championships.
Ho hum.
The Lady
Bulldogs and head coach Mark
Campbell are entering this season as
if they have not achieved anything,
which, in one sense, they have not.
"Each
team has its own lifetime," Campbell
said. "This is this year's team, and
we've done nothing. We did nothing
last year because this team wasn't
together last year."
At the
very least, Union will have a
decidedly different look this year.
Last season's NAIA Player of the
Year Josephine Owino graduated and
is now playing professionally in
Turkey, leaving Union to replace the
best post player in the country.
"Our
post play is going to have to be a
little different," said junior point
guard Kayla Hudson. "Sarah (Chan),
for example, she's extremely quick.
We need to run the floor and push
people."
Chan, a
6 foot 4 inch junior from Arange City, Sudan,
will see a large piece of the
minutes left behind by Owino. Last
season she averaged 10.9 points and
6.4 rebounds per game last year.
The Lady
Bulldogs know they will play every
game this season with a target on
their backs, every opponent looking
to take down the national champion
and no. 1 team in the nation.
"We
can't take a game off, and we're
aware of that," Hudson said. "We
know that every game we have to go
out ready to play."
Union
will open the season Friday, Oct. 30
in an exhibition against Vanderbilt.
The first home contest is Monday,
Nov. 2.