With the start of the season just around the corner on Nov. 3, Wildcat women’s basketball will look to return to the basics.
Head Coach Julie Goodenough said the team’s motto this season–Chop Wood, Carry Water–refers to an old Zen proverb.
“Basically, it’s just mastering and giving meaning to the boring, mundane tasks that we do every day,” she said. “We’re not going to put in some complex options if we can’t pass and catch and handle the ball and hit open shots, so it’s just a mindset to stay locked in to just fundamentals.”
A key returner for the Wildcats this season is Payton Hull, junior guard from Peaster. Hull missed two months with a wrist injury last season in Western Athletic Conference play, but came back in time for the conference tournament and then the team’s WNIT games.
Hull has been named ESPN’s WAC Preseason Player of the Year. This is the first time the program has had a player receive this recognition, according to Goodenough.
“It means a lot,” Hull said about the honor. “I thought, ‘Are you sure that’s me?’ because I hardly played last season because of my injury. But I’m super proud of myself for how I was able to come back and contribute to my team and help them out and go super far in postseason play.”
Hull is one of seven returners to the team, and one of four now-juniors in the team’s strong core. Goodenough said she knows the juniors have a lot more room to grow this season.
“I want to see them just be hungry to improve,” she said. “They’re nowhere near reaching their potential right now. The ceiling is so high for all of them, and so I want them to just stay hungry and become the best version of themselves.”
The team added six new players in the offseason, consisting of four freshmen and two transfers.
The two transfers are Jazmyn Stone, redshirt junior guard from Federal Way, Washington, who transferred from the College of Charleston; and Jordyn Coleman, junior center from Zionsville, Indiana, who transferred from Triton College.
The freshmen are Emma Daugherty, forward from Summerville, South Carolina; Molly Daugherty, guard from Summerville, South Carolina; Bree Riley, guard from Spring; and Riley Grohman, guard from Tuscola.
Both Goodenough and Hull said Grohman has stood out from this new group, while they also agreed that all six newcomers have fit really well into Goodenough’s scheme.
“You know it takes a little bit of time for those freshmen to make the adjustment to D1 basketball,” Goodenough said. “[Grohman] really has a knack for scoring, a really good shooter. She loves to get in the gym and work on her own. I think she’s a player that’s going to continue growing and will be really fun to watch.”
The team’s non-conference schedule is loaded with significant matchups, including games at Texas Tech University, Stephen F. Austin, and North Texas, as well as a Thanksgiving tournament where the Wildcats will play Northwestern and Bradley.
The team is also hosting its first-ever ACU Christmas Classic tournament, where it will host the University of Montana, which is picked second in its conference, and the University at Buffalo, a team that won the WNIT last season.
“We didn’t do ourselves any favors with who’s coming back, but anyway, it’ll be fun,” Goodenough said. “Super fun home games.”
As part of the WAC Media Day on Wednesday, the conference released the coaches’ preseason poll and the Preseason All-WAC team.
The Wildcats were named the conference favorite with two first-place votes, while second-place California Baptist University received four first-place votes.
This is the first time the Wildcats have been favored in the WAC poll, and is their first time since 2019 in the Southland to be a conference frontrunner.
Hull was named the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year in addition to her ESPN acknowledgement. This places her on the Preseason All-WAC team alongside Meredith Mayes, junior center from Bixby, Oklahoma.
The Wildcats will kick off their season with a home game on Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m. when they host Howard Payne University.
