ABILENE, Texas -  McMurry University women's basketball head coach Brittany Densman-Roes will take the wrap off of her 2018-19 squad on Thursday evening, when the War Hawks host East Texas Baptist University in a non-conference contest (ETBU is a member of the ASC East Division, with the teams meeting on January 3 in an American Southwest Conference bout). Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Kimbrell Arena.
 
McM will also face a pair of NCAA Division I foes over the weekend, as well, in action for the first weekend of competition. The War Hawks will travel to Lamar University on Saturday (7:30 p.m.) for an exhibition contest. On Sunday (4 p.m.), McM will head over to Houston Baptist University.
 
McMurry will be enjoying its first full ASC – and NCAA III – women's basketball membership since 2011-12. The War Hawks – under ASC West Coach of the Year Densman-Roes – went 13-12 last year, posting a five-game improvement in its league record from two seasons ago. McM finished in a tie for second in the ASC West and would qualified for the conference post-season had it been eligible.
 
The War Hawks return four starters, and nine letterwinners overall, from their 2017-18 roster. McM returns 83 percent of its points (55.3 of 66.5 points per game), 67 percent of its rebounds (26.6 of 39.9 r.p.g.) and 71 percent of its steals (165 of 231). McMurry's only lost starter from last year was a big one in All-ASC guard Sham Hunter, who averaged 12.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 2.8 assists per game.
 
But Densman-Roes will have a two-year starting forward back in junior Skyler Reyna heading her cast of returnees. Reyna, from San Antonio, Texas (Brackenridge H.S.) and who was named to the 2018-19 ASC "Watch List," earned first team All-ASC West Division honors as a sophomore and appeared all 25 contests in 2017-18. Reyna became just the fifth player in McM history to average a double-double, with 15.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Reyna had 14 double-double games, including six straight from December 30-January 18. She was the model of consistency, scoring in double figures 22 times in 25 games, while hauling in double-figure rebound totals 15 times. 
 
Rena led the War Hawks in scoring in 12 games and was the squad's top rebounder 14 times. She posted five games with 20-plus points. She was twice named as the ASC West Player of the Week.
 
Junior guard Monica Jones (South Bend, Ind./Elkhart H.S.) – a transfer last year from Ranger College – also returns, after earning the 2017-18 ASC West Newcomer of the Year. Jones averaged 10.1 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, appearing in 23 contests in her first season with the War Hawks. She topped the team with 35 three-point baskets made, hitting 37.2 percent from beyond the arc. Jones had a season-high 26 points versus Concordia University-Texas.
 
Junior guards Isabel Carrion (Roby, Texas/Roby H.S.) and Sarah Doherty (Lubbock, Texas/Cooper H.S.) round out the team's returning quartet of starters. Carrion averaged 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, starting all 25 contests last year. She also chipped in 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game and shot 43 percent from the field.
 
Doherty joined Carrion as the only McM player to start every game in 2017-18. Doherty averaged 8.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.  She led the team in long-distance shooting, converting 36 treys on the year.
 
Returning to add depth to the War Hawks' lineup this season are: senior guard Dominique Machuca (2.8 p.p.g.) a junior transfer from New Braunfels, Texas (New Braunfels H.S./Frank Phillips J.C.); juniors Kaymee Howell (4.0 p.p.g.) from Halletsville, Texas (Halletsville H.S) and London Weilert (3.8 p.p.g.) from Abilene, Texas (Wylie H.S.), along with; sophomores Chyna Washington (2.7 p.p.g.) from Brady,
Texas (Brady H.S.) and Jaymi Gordon-Deans from Sealy, Texas (Sealy H.S.).
 
Densman-Roes has supplemented her strong returning core group with four talented newcomers to the War Hawks' fold. Sophomore Brittany Rodgers is a 5'6" sophomore guard who spent her first collegiate season at NCAA II season at UT-Permain Basin.  Freshman guard Lynzey Tucker (Ft. worth, Texas/Farmersville H.S.) adds depth to the backcourt.
 
Up front, McM adds twin sisters Autumn (5'10") and Savannah (5'9") Johnson to the roster for 2018-19. The duo comes to the War Hawks from Azle, Texas (Azle H.S.). Also bolstering the frontcourt is freshman forward Taylor Smith (5'7") from Lubbock, Texas (Talkington School for Young Women Leaders).
 
NOTES:
FOLLOW THE WAR HAWKS THIS WEEK


HOME
East Texas Baptist University
Thurs., Nov. 8
6 p.m.
*Links for web cast, live stats and video:  www.mcmurrysports.com

 
AWAY (exhibition)
Lamar University
Sat., Nov. 10
7:30 p.m.
*Video (ESPN+): http://www.espn.com/watch/search/lamar
*Live Stats: https://lamarcardinals.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary

 
AWAY
Houston Baptist University
Sun., Nov. 11
4 p.m.
*Video and live stat links at: www.hbuhuskies.com 

 
SCOUTING ETBU:  The Tigers will be playing their season opener, as well, and are coming off of a 25-7 season, an ASC championship and NCAA III Elite Eight finish in 2017-18. Under second-year head coach Rusty Rainbolt – a former McM women's hoops assistant – the Tigers are nationally-ranked at No. 12 by the American Basketball Coaches Association and No. 14 by D3Hoops.com, but were tabbed second in the 2018-19 ASC East Division pre-season poll behind UT-Dallas.
 
ASC 2018-19 LID-LIFTER:  The McM-ETBU game will actually have the honor of being the first official ASC basketball game of the 2018-19 season. The War Hawks and Tigers tip at 6 p.m. Thursday and the Concordia-Texas women host Texas Lutheran at 7 p.m. UMHB men travel to Schreiner Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
 
LAST MEETING VS. ETBU: In 2017-18, ETBU won in Abilene, 75-69 in an ASC match-up, while also winning the early-season on-conference game in Marshall, 64-61.
 
FOR OPENERS:  McM has lost its past two season openers, dropping decisions at the University of Redlands (62-56) last year and at Trinity University (72-53) in 2016-17.
 
SCOUTING LAMAR: Lamar enters the match versus McMurry with a 1-0 record, after recording a season-opening win on the road at Louisiana-Lafayette, 79-77. In that win, the Cardinals were led by Chastadie Barrs' 23 points and seven steals. Three other LU players tallied in double-digit points: Moe Kinard (13), Jadyn Pimentel (12) and Briana Laidler (10). On the boards, Miya Crump had eight rebounds and Rikah Cowart seven caroms.
 
SCOUTING HOUSTON BAPTIST:  The War Hawks will be the season-opener for the Huskies, who are coming off of a 10-18 season in 2017-18. HBU will feature pre-season All-Southland Conference senior Amanda Johnson, a 6'1 guard. Johnson was All-SLC as a junior, averaging 15.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, shooting 43-percent from the field. The Huskies roster boasts four seniors seven juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen.
 
SKY(LER)'S THE LIMIT:  McM junior forward Skyler Reyna enters 2018-19 averaging 13.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game through her first 49 college contests. Reyna has rolled up 679 total points and 430 rebounds entering her junior year.
 
ADD REYNA:  Her 254 rebounds in 2017-18 ranked as the fifth-best season total in McM history.
 
ACCEPTING THE CHALLENGE: 2018-19 will be the third-consecutive season that Brittany Densman-Roes' War Hawks have faced at least one NCAA Division I team. Besides Lamar (exhibition) and HBU this year, in 2017-18 the War Hawks took on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (exhibition) and lost 62-43, while falling at Abilene Christian (exhibition) in 2016-17 (97-46).