Pugh: “You’ll see a different style of team this season

Last year Southern’s lady jaguars were bad, and not bad in a good way. In fact the lady jaguars began the season (0-8) before getting its first win 55-44 over Southwestern Athletic Conference rival Texas Southern.
“We started the year struggling and I think it kind of went down hill from there,” said Pugh. “I think to a degree a lot of the ladies didn’t feel like they could achieve.”
Southern concluded the season (5-22, 5-13 SWAC), losing to eventual champion Prairie View A&M in the SWAC tournament, 49-80. For that coach Sandy Pugh attributes injuries as her teams down fall last season.
“Last year was a difficult year for us finishing 5-22,” said Pugh. “It definitely was not an expectation for us. We had a lot of injuries with key players and some young ladies that didn’t get eligible through the clearing house.”
Of Pugh’s seven year tenure at the school, last years mark was by far her worst of all. Since her arrival it was the first time the lady jaguars failed to win three consecutive games. It was also the first time the lady jaguars didn’t win back to back games until February.
“During the course of the season every time we seemed like we were in a position to turn the tide and try to get back on track, something happened,” Pugh said. “Whether it was injuries to our premiere center, a car accident or a death in someone’s family, all these things took a lot out of us.”
To prevent a duplicate debacle of last season, Pugh and her staff met at the end of last season to get the program going in the direction it once was. From that meeting the coaching staff concluded it needed more speed and athleticism to go with the power it already has.
“We got through the year but as a staff we sat down at the end of the year to see what we needed to rebuild our program,” Pugh said. “We decided we needed more speed. I think we got caught up going to the tournament three of the last six years and seeing teams that were much bigger and much more physical than us, that we were really focusing on getting bigger, stronger kids.”
“At our level when you get bigger, stronger kids you lose speed and athleticism,” Pugh said. “This season we made the effort of going out and getting the quickest, fastest and most athletic kids we could find and I think we’ve done a good job at that.”
Returning from last years team includes Fredrieka Lewis, Indi Johnson, Deidra Jackson, Brandi Robinson, Aerica Hicks, Ashley Augerson and Freda Allen.
“You’ll see a different style of team this season,” Pugh said. “We won’t be as methodical as far as bringing the down and setting up in our half court offense each and every time. We’re looking forward to an outstanding year. We hope to put a team on the floor you can be proud of and enjoy watching.”
Lagniappe
Pugh has dubbed her 2007 team the “Road Warriors” because of its tremendous road schedule.
“I’m calling them my road warriors because we’re going to run the road a little bit,” Pugh said. “We have a tremendous road schedule, so come out and support. You will see an exciting team that’s just going to run, run and run some more.”