Following a hectic offseason highlighted by several transfers moving in and out of the program, the Wildcats look to make a strong start to their season on Monday.
Out of the 13 athletes on last year’s squad, eight transferred to other schools or graduated. Kenadi Rising transferred to Emporia State University, Ylenia Exposito Perez went to Missouri Valley College, Addison Martin went to Illinois State University, Tristin Keller moved to Henderson State University, Gracy Wernli left for Lindenwood University, Claire Graham transferred to West Texas A&M and Brooke Jessen and Clare Traeger both graduated.
The Wildcats brought in Natalia Chavez from the University of New Mexico, Erin Woodson from the University of Purdue at Fort Wayne, Breanna Davis from the University of North Texas, Mia Rivers from Texas A&M at Kingsville, Carlota Gomez from Monroe College and Paula Pique and Aimee Flippen are the freshmen that round out the roster.
With only five returners to the program, Head Coach Julie Goodenough said it has been important to foster the chemistry on the team to succeed.
“Our five returners are such a great core group of women and basketball players,” Goodenough said. “And our new players just came in, high-character women, and I think they’re all just a great fit to our style of play.”
Bella Earle, senior guard from Corinth, agreed with Goodenough, and added that the off-the-court relationships help as well with the team camaraderie.
“We just have that bond, whenever you’re going through hard stuff and just having each other’s backs,” Earle said.
Earle has been playing under Goodenough all four years of her collegiate career in Abilene, which has helped add stability to the team, especially when the transfer portal has such a large role in college athletics.
“I think being able to look up to my head coach and know that she’s a great person,” Earle said. “I also love the ACU community, and I just think that they’re super awesome.”
Goodenough said she is looking forward to the growth of Payton Hull, sophomore guard from Peaster. Hull was named Freshman of the Year in the Western Athletic Conference last season and has also been named to the All-WAC preseason team this season, the first for the Wildcats in their time in the WAC.
“We would like for her to be a more vocal leader this year,” Goodenough said. “We just would like to see her talk a little bit more and distribute the ball when she requires a lot of attention from the defense.”
Goodenough also said she is impressed with how quickly the transfers have entered the program and how they have performed so far.
“We brought in some really good shooters,” Goodenough said. “They’ve been really impressive with picking things up really quickly.”
The Wildcats will play their first game of the season at home when they host the University of the Southwest at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
Finishing fourth in the WAC coaches’ poll, the Wildcats look to use the preseason to prepare for the tough conference matchups.
