WBB SEASON PREVIEW: Yellow Jackets start season as road warriors on Tuesday

DEFIANCE, Ohio - Defiance College women's basketball is back in action with a trip to Siena Heights on Tuesday night to officially begin the 2024-25 season. The Yellow Jackets will spend most of November away from home before their home opener on Nov. 23 versus Lourdes. Defiance will play 11 of their first 16 games on the road before settling in for 7 of the final 13 on their home floor.

Season Outlook
Last season ended without a victory but second-year head coach Courtney Peay is focused on building the program to compete over the long term. She expects to pick up wins in the non-conference and conference slate to grow confidence and buy-in to rebuilding the program's historic pedigree. "These young women are no strangers to being underdogs," says Coach Peay. "They understand the season at hand are are ready to make their NAIA debut this year."

The coaching staff has harped on getting 1 percent better each day and are leaning on their core values of Resilience, Excellence, Accountability and Discipline (R.E.A.D). "These values are rooted in faith and live out by our work!" states Peay. "The theme of this season is building a legacy with the goal to do these things to etch our names in the DC history books in a positive way."

About the Team
Coach Peay and her staff have worked hard to turn over the roster with a new infusion of talent. With several newcomers, she believes several will come in and contribute right away. Defiance attracted several players with size and athleticism to compete at the NAIA level with 6-2 forward San'Taizia Thomas along with 5-11 posts JaKiah Mitchell and Jourdyn Wynn to complement Katlin Barrett's returning 6-1 presence in the paint. Along with eight freshman, transfers Na'lani Williams (Southwestern Michigan College) and Makaiya Thomas (Notre Dame College) will provide immediate experience and maturity in the front court. Defiance will also gained the services of former Maumee standout Haley Hughes since coming to DC as a freshman to play soccer.

Despite numerous new faces, co-captain Ali Mowen returns to engineer the offense at point guard. Coach Peay has been very encouraged by the junior's game taking a leap from her sophomore season and has meshed well with her new teammates. Mowen is the team's top returning scorer at 4.7 points per game thanks to a team-high 35 triples to go with 3.2 assists per contest last season. Barrett is one of just two seniors on the team along with incoming transfer Thomas. Barrett pulled in 1.7 rebounds per game over 21 contest last year along with six block. From the perimeter returns Strongsville native Mone'a McElroy who hit seven treys last year in 17 games as a freshman.

Considering several departures, none will be tougher to replace than last year's leading scorer Zadria King. King scored 13.1 points per contest and averaged 7.8 rebounds per game. 

Conference Outlook
The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference has been captured by Indiana Tech in six of the last seven years and the Warriors have also won 5 of 6 WHAC Tournaments. They are once again the top team in the WHAC preseason coaches poll followed by Cornerstone and Concordia. The Warriors are also No. 12 in the NAIA Preseason Top 25. Indiana Tech and Siena Heights represented the WHAC in the national tournament last season with the Warriors reaching the Sweet 16.

-JACKETS-