October 2, 2011

UNCG women's basketball team holds first practice of 2011-12

For video of coach Wendy Palmer's comments on UNCG's first practice, click here.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Wendy Palmer era is officially under way at UNCG, as the Spartans held their first women's basketball practice of the 2011-12 season Sunday.

"I'm really happy with the ladies today," Palmer said after her inaugural practice as the Spartans' head coach. "They came out, they worked hard. There were some bright spots. We've been focusing on doing a lot of the little things all preseason, and today, I did see that effort in getting those things done."

UNCG returns nine letterwinners and two starters from last season's 13-16 squad, which went 10-10 in Southern Conference play. Junior point guard Dayshaun Richbow started all 29 games for the Spartans last season and led the squad with 3.1 assists and 2.8 steals per game while scoring 6.8 points per game.

Sophomore forward Janae' Stevenson started 26 contests last year, averaging 7.4 points per game to go with a team-best 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. Stevenson was a SoCon All-Freshman selection by both the league's coaches and media last season.

Jazz Weaver and Sarah Folwell are the lone seniors on the roster, while redshirt junior Amy Clapper also lends experience to the squad, which graduated its top two scorers from last season.

Palmer, an 11-year WNBA veteran, enters her first year at the helm for the Spartans after the retirement of longtime coach Lynne Agee at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season.

This season, UNCG will play a 28-game regular-season schedule that includes trips to national power North Carolina and a tournament in California as well as the 20-game Southern Conference slate.

UNCG will open the season Nov. 11 with a home contest against perennial Big South power Liberty at Fleming Gym. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

- UNCG -