COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The
Lynn Plett era for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's basketball program will begin on Friday when the Mountain Lions travel to Wichita, Kan., for regional games against Newman on Friday and Oklahoma Christian on Saturday.
Plett was named the head coach for UCCS in May after four seasons as an assistant coach at Division I Northern Kentucky. He was previously the head coach at Division II Missouri Western and Lewis, and coached three NCAA playoff teams at Lewis. Plett has more than 20 years of collegiate coaching experience at Divisions I and II.
The Mountain Lions were picked third in the RMAC Preseason Poll with three first-place votes. Returning All-American
Brittany Hernandez was named the RMAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year by the conference coaches after sweeping both awards at the end of the regular season in 2015-16. She averaged 20.8 points and eight rebounds per game last season, and will start her senior season fifth in UCCS records with 1,124 points.
Jen Vigil earned RMAC Honorable Mention accolades last season with 10 points per game and is leading returners with 66 assists. She will be joined on the team by her sister, Kristen, who was the Colorado 3A Player of the Year last season.
This weekend will feature the same opponents as last season's opening weekend. UCCS won 80-60 against Oklahoma Christian to start the season but dropped a 71-64 decision to Newman last season. Hernandez led the scoring in both games with 22 against Christian and 16 against Newman.
Friday's game will start at 5 p.m., MST, at Fugate Gymnasium with the host Jets. Newman was picked sixth in the Heartland Conference preseason poll and dropped exhibition games with Wichita State and Kansas State. Hannah Alexander averaged 15.5 points in the first two games.
UCCS and Oklahoma Christian will face off at noon, MST. The Eagles were picked third in the Heartland Conference with McKenzie Stanford and Sarah Parker on the all-preseason team. Oklahoma Christian won 96-64 against York College in its only exhibition game of the season, and Stanford scored 26 points with 11-of-17 shooting from the field.
Live video, audio and stats will be available for free for both games this weekend. Mac Buckley will carry the play-by-play audio coverage through GoMountainLions.com, with live video and stats through Newman University.
