Nov. 16, 2005

SAN MARCOS - Texas State women's basketball will take on a new persona when the Bobcats open the 2005-06 season.

Gone from a season ago are seniors Tori Talbert, Ashley McGruder and Ashley Perkins, and the 2005-06 Bobcats fill this season's roster with eight returning players and five newcomers.

BOBCAT RETURNEES Texas State's top returning scorer from a year ago is senior Tamara Thompson (13.7 ppg), and the `Cats will expect improved scoring numbers out of sophomore guards Joyce Ekworomadu (6.4 ppg) and Jeana Hoffman (5.7 ppg).

Sophomore guard Jenna Hoffman could step into a starting role as well for the Bobcats, as she saw action in all 28 games last season for Texas State, starting in three and averaging 4.8 points per game.

Ally Kelly enters her third season with the Bobcats as the team's only other senior after seeing action in 26 of the `Cats 28 games a year ago. Kelly recorded seven starts last season and scored 2.9 points per game as a reserve guard.

Three players that provided bench help in the post last season should provide even more depth down low this year for the Bobcats, as juniors Ashley Riley, Tiffany Cook and Erica Putnam saw considerable playing time last year.

Putnam averaged 11.5 minutes per game last year, while Riley was the team's second best free-throw shooter, converting on 13-of-16 attempts from the line in '04-'05. Cook led the trio of then-sophomore post players in field goal percentage at 43.6-percent, while entire rotation pulled down 4.7 rebounds per game as a group.

BOBCAT NEWCOMERS Texas State's newcomers will be led by a pair of junior college transfers, while three freshmen could provide the `Cats with some needed depth off of the bench.

Elise Wright comes to the Bobcat program after spending one season at Central Arizona College, where she helped guide her team to the NJCAA national championship in Salina, Kan. A junior forward from Colorado Springs, Colo., Wright averaged 3.7 rebounds per game for the Vaqueros while shooting 48% from the field and 81% from the free throw line in her sophomore season. Before playing at Central Arizona, Wright spent one season at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo.

Hallie Lee rounds out the junior college list, coming to Texas State from Daytona Beach Community College. Lee, a sophomore forward from Ottawa, Kan., averaged ten points and six rebounds for the Falcons, and received first-team all conference honors in her freshman season.

Texas State's freshman class is highlighted by a pair of guards and one forward, all of which averaged double-digit scoring numbers in their senior campaigns. Freshman guard Ryann Bradford comes to the Bobcats from O.D. Wyatt High School in Fort Worth, while Ashley Leffingwell, another freshman guard, joins the Texas State program from Allen High School in Allen, Texas. Both players averaged 13 points per game for their respective schools. Kia Palmer rounds out the freshman class, coming to Texas State from Westminster Christian High School in Miami, Fla., where she averaged 22.1 points as a forward.

THE SCHEDULE Fourteen home games, a pair of Big 12 road contests and the annual CenturyTel Bobcat Classic highlight the 2005-06 Texas State women's basketball slate.

The Bobcats will tune up for the season with an exhibition against Everyone's Internet on Nov. 10, followed by a season-opening road contest at Oklahoma State on Nov. 19. The Bobcats open the home portion of the schedule three days later on Nov. 22 against Texas-Permian Basin.

With two regular-season games under its belt, Texas State will compete in the 2005 CenturyTel Bobcat Classic over the Thanksgiving weekend. The `Cats open the classic with Prairie View A&M on Nov. 26, followed by a Nov. 27 bout with Mississippi Valley State.

The Bobcats play three more home games after the Bobcat Classic, including a Dec. 10 showdown with Texas-Pan American, followed by a seven game road swing that completes the pre-conference slate and opens Southland play.

Texas State will make the trip to Brookings, S.D., to play South Dakota State on Dec. 16, followed by a second Big 12 showdown, this time with Nebraska on Dec. 20 in Lincoln, Neb. Dec. 16's game at South Dakota State will be a homecoming, of sorts, for two Bobcats, as sophomore guards Jeana and Jenna Hoffman hail from Mitchell, S.D., which is about 120 miles from South Dakota State's campus.

"Jeana and Jenna are really excited about getting to go back home and play in South Dakota. SDSU has a tremendous amount of tradition in women's basketball, having now moved up to Division I after winning the national title in Division II a few years ago," Texas State head coach Suzanne Fox said. "It will be a great college basketball atmosphere to play in."

The out-of-conference slate wraps up in the Texas-Pan American tournament Dec. 29-30 in Edinburg, with games against UTPA and Texas-El Paso.

"Those two Big 12 opponents on our pre-conference schedule will provide us with a great challenge, while the return trip to South Dakota State and that whole trip around Christmas break will really tell us where we're at as a team," Fox said. "I think we've got games we can learn from, especially with seven new players and nine of our 15 being freshman or sophomores."

Texas State opens Southland Conference action at Sam Houston State on Jan. 5, and three of Texas State's first four SLC contests take place on the road, with the lone home game in the stretch coming Jan. 12 against Texas-Arlington.

"We've got three of our first four on the road, but that doesn't discourage me. I like getting the road games out prior to the semester starting. It's a chance to get some road wins under our belt and then we get to play the home portion of our schedule after our students are here," Fox said. "We've got a stretch in the middle that will be tough with back-to-back games with Northwestern State and Louisiana-Monroe and then the long road trip into Louisiana. That could be a really challenging time frame for us."

In all, eight SLC home contests dot the schedule, featured by three in a row at home against Sam Houston, Louisiana-Monroe and Northwestern State. The Bobcats conclude the regular season on March 3 against Nicholls State.