California State University, Stanislaus’ women’s basketball team is rebuilding this season, grooming a young team to help make up for the loss of its top three players from last year.

The Warrior women are already out to a slow start, dropping their first game against Chico State last week. The keys to development and success this season will hinge on focus, retention and confidence.

“Unfortunately, it’s something they control more than me,” head coach Sharon Turner-Dean said. “It (the season) depends on how fast everybody comes out of the learning curve.”

To help rise above the learning curve the Warriors will look to senior Theresa Henderson and sophomore Erin Godde to lead the charge and motivate the rest of the team to excel and coalesce into a productive unit; which will be a necessity if the Warriors are to contend for the CCAA title.

“We have a system where everybody has the green light,” Turner-Dean said. “I don’t care who is doing the scoring as long as we have four or five people in the double digits.”

Last year, Stanislaus finished with an even record of 11-11 in the conference and an overall record of 13-4. This year the Warriors are looking to overcome the challenges involved with road games, as most of their losses last season came on the road where they finished 5-9 overall.

Luckily for Stanislaus, its road legs won’t be tested for a few weeks. Their next game will be at home when they face William Jessup on Tuesday.

“They like to attack a lot,” Turner-Dean said.  “We’re going to have to do a good job defensively and a much better job on the boards.”

To contact Frankie Tovar, e-mail ftovar@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.