Women's basketball ready for 2021-22 season

The Defiance women's basketball team will open the 2021-22 season on Monday night when they host Adrain at the Karl H. Weaner Center at 7:30 p.m.

The Coach: The Yellow Jackets are led by fourth-year Head Coach Allan King Jr. King has 19 career wins while leading Defiance including guiding them to a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament victory, 84-47 at Mount St. Joseph University in his first season.

The Players: The Yellow Jackets had five players named to the HCAC Watchlist prior to the season in seniors in Taylor Day, Briawna Francis, and Nysha Speed along with juniors Nicole Sims and Taylor Steinbrunner.

Day started all 11 games last season, averaging 7.6 points along with leading the team with 14 steals and finishing second in rebounds with 41. Francis appeared in 10 games and recorded 12 points, 16 rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Speed played in nine games last season and recorded 39 rebounds, five steals, and two assists while averaging 5.2 points per game.

Sims started all 11 games and averaged 5.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game and also had a team-high 34 assists. Steinbrunner played in five games and started two. She scored 11 points, averaging 2.2 per game, and recorded four rebounds and three steals.

Also returning for the Yellow Jackers are juniors Lauren Criblez and Briana Townley and sophomores Cait Good, Kylie Brinkman, and McKenzie Cooper. Criblez played in 10 games and made one start while averaging 3.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Townley started nine games and led the team with 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game along with seven blocks. Good started six games and averaged 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. Brinkman and Cooper each started two games last season and averaged over 10 minutes per game.

The Schedule: The Yellow Jackets will play a 25 game schedule consisting of 18 HCAC games and seven non-conference matchups. The Yellow Jackets will play four straight home games to open the season starting with hosting Adrian on Monday, November 8. Defiance will then host Bryant & Stratton College on November 13, Ohio Wesleyan on November 17, and St. Mary's College on November 20.

Broadcasts: All home games will be played at the Karl H. Weaner Center and live stats and video can be found on defianceathletics.com.