The SMU women’s basketball team already has a roster jam-packed with talent and experience, but add two transfers from an experienced Big 12 program and the Mustangs look significantly stronger for the 2009-10 season.
Former teammates Kristin Hernandez and Kelsey Hatcher of Oklahoma State University will both arrive on the Hilltop this season to join the Conference USA threat. With second-round appearances in both the Big 12 Championships and WNIT last season, both athletes know the skill it takes to advance to the post season – something the Mustangs had never done prior to Rompola becoming the team’s head coach in 1991.
With two transfers from OSU coming to the Hilltop in the fall, head coach Rhonda Rompola just keeps adding record-breaking scorers and younger players to the 2009 Conference USA Regular-Season Champions roster.
All five starters from last season (Brittany Gilliam, Delisha Wills, Jillian Samuels, LaShandra Hill and Alice Severin) are expected to return. Each player, with the exception of the incoming freshmen class has experience in the post season, something the Mustangs will need if they hope for a repeat appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Hernandez, a junior from Duncanville (Texas) High School, totalled 238 points in the 2009 season. In her sophomore year at OSU, Hernandez averaged 7.4 points in 32 games. As a freshman, the 5-foot-9 guard set a school record for points scored by a freshman in a season opener with 25 points in her first collegiate appearance.
Rompola describes Hernandez as a player who will, “add to our depth at the perimeter position. … a very strong and physical guard that does a great job of creating her own shot.”
Prior to graduating from high school, Hernandez was the 18th-best prospect in Texas, according to TexasGirlsBasketball.com. Hernandez joined the Mustang roster on June 5.
Joining her former teammate in Dallas will be Hatcher, a former guard of the Cowgirls. Heading into her sophomore year, Hatcher leaves her position as an OSU guard to help strengthen the SMU offense. Being one year younger then Hernandez, Hatcher will be eligible to play for three years at SMU.
“It will be difficult not playing at first,” Hatcher said in an interview with PonyStampede.com about her one year of sitting out to due to NCAA restrictions. “It’s always hard to not be able to play when you want to. It will give me time to catch up on academics, especially with the transfer and going to a school like SMU.”
Rompola and her staff scouted Hatcher when she played at Central Arkansas Christian High School where she ranked No. 2 at the point guard position and was recognized as the No.24 graduating senior.
“They were recruiting me out of high school a little bit, so I knew a little bit about the program,” Hatcher said of her interaction with Rompola and SMU. “I was visiting a little bit with the coaches, and I really liked them a lot. It just felt like it was the place for me.”
Already counting down the days until tip-off of the 2010 season, Hatcher is itching to get back on the hardwood.
“I will probably come back hungrier than before. Hopefully it will all benefit my game,” Hatcher said. “Coming into a new program is a hard thing for freshmen to do. This year, I will have a full year to figure it out. I think that will definitely help me out.”
“The addition of the two transfer guards will give us great depth on the perimeter,” Rompola said. “Hatcher will give us a real three-point threat.”
Both students will miss the 2009-10 season due to NCAA transfer regulations and be redshirted. Hernandez will join the team next season with two years of eligibility remaining, while Hatcher will contribute three years to the program.
Previous Mustangs who have transferred to SMU include Heidi Brandenburg, Raquel Christian, both of whom are eligible to play this upcoming season after being redshirted during 2008-09.
