Experienced or not, Lady Dawgs like being the target Posted On: Tuesday, Nov. 3 2009 05:09 AM By Angel Verdejo
Killeen Daily Herald

COPPERAS COVE – Winning a district championship not only raises the level of expectation, it also makes the bull's-eye that much bigger.

That is where the Copperas Cove Lady Bulldawgs are heading into this season, even if they aren't the same team that won 27 games a year ago – including all but one in District 12-5A play – and reached the region quarterfinals.

But players and coaches say that's OK. They expect the same from themselves this season as they did last year, even without four graduated Lady Dawgs now in the college ranks.

"We don't mind," Cove coach Richard Herbst said. "We'd rather have somebody after us than trying to catch somebody else. We've talked about that – if you are defending district champions, you're the one that everybody wants to beat. I think they're ready for that."

Senior guard Desiree Nelson is a two-time, first-team all-district player who is one of Cove's top defenders. She'll be expected to help more offensively this season after averaging 9.7 points last year, where the 5-foot-10 Nelson should have an advantage over smaller guards.

Angelique Campbell and Shina McCoun are both likely to step into the starting lineup after coming off the bench a year ago. Cove will start the year without Koye Hickson, who injured her knee during the fall league and will have surgery Monday. Herbst said she's likely to return during the season.

Cove also brings in reinforcements in the form of a 2008-09 junior varsity team that was the undefeated district champion.

"We're just not deep enough yet just because of experience," Herbst said. "It's going to take them a little bit, but we're doing a crash course right now and trying to make them understand the difference between the JV and varsity."

Cove isn't going to have much height at its disposal – the Lady Dawgs' tallest players are 5-foot-11 juniors Traonna Shedrick and Campbell. So the Lady Dawgs will use their speed to offset the lack of traditional height.

"We're fast so that helps," Nelson said. "And we run. We don't run suicides but we do drills that we run in."

Said Herbst: "We're going to try to make the game go as fast as we can. We'll press and pretty much pick up full court and make the game full court, both offensively and defensively. That's what we like to do and it takes advantage of the kids that we have."

The running has it benefits, Nelson said, as Cove's conditioning allows for the Lady Dawgs to keep running late in the game when opponents might be tired and unable to keep up.

"I just keep pushing and keep going," she said. "Sometimes I try to add even more defensive pressure when I know they're tired, because it can help cause turnovers."

Contact Angel Verdejo at averdejo@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7564.