CHARLESTON, S.C. - The CSU Women’s Basketball team took to the court for the first time as a team on Monday afternoon in preparations for the upcoming 2012-2013 campaign.
The coaching staff had been holding individual workouts with groups of players in compliance with NCAA rules since August 27th in Buccaneer Field House and all parties involved were ready for their first team practice on the court.
“Practice was awesome yesterday,” commented head coach Fred Applin on seeing the team on the court for the first time. “I think the first thing with basketball is the tempo, and we as a staff want to set a tempo that’s very high. With that though, we also want to be sure that they understand we’re going to have to play defense his year.”
The team spent the first day going over the defensive terminology involved with a new coaching staff, but the coaches were pleased with how quickly the players were picking it up.
“There was a lot of defensive stuff and I have to give it to them,” said Applin of the first day’s practice. “They came in with the right mindset to play defense, but also came in here to get things done and learn new things.”
The coaching staff also used the first day’s practice to see how the team was adjusting to being back in the classroom and to evaluate how the newcomers, particularly the freshmen, were coming along as they made the transition to college life.
“It was a chance for me to see who can come in here and think about basketball for two hours and then switch it off and go to class or do homework,” said Applin. “Overall, I liked what I saw. There are some things that we’ll have to tweak, but there were other things we saw that we can build upon.
The Charleston Southern women’s basketball team opens up the 2012-2013 regular season on November 10th, when the team takes part in the annual Big South/SoCon Challenge, by taking on UNC Greensboro at 2 p.m. on the campus of UNC Asheville.