Oct. 7, 2010
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - It's been 212 days since the UCF women's basketball team last played a game. The Knights' one-point loss, 63-62, to eventual champion Tulane in the Conference USA Tournament quarterfinals ended the 2009-10 season in heartbreaking fashion. Summer workouts, team conditioning and weight lifting sessions that followed that loss all led to the first official practice of 2010-11 Thursday morning.
UCF's five-member senior class of D'Nay Daniels (Atlanta, Ga.), Angelica Mealing (Decatur, Ga.), Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.), Jelisa Calswell (Macon, Ga.) and Leah Paige (Atlanta, Ga.) came in knowing that Thursday would be the final "first day of practice" in their collegiate careers.
The coaches met with the seniors Wednesday and told them the keys to a successful season in 2010-11.
"I think we have high expectations. We met with the seniors yesterday and they also have high expectations and that's the way you want the bar set," associate head coach Greg Brown said.
"We emphasized communication and some things that have hurt us in the past, like defensive transitions. We want to contest shots and take care of the ball. I think when we look at the tape, we will see that we were pretty consistent with those today. The key is staying consistent both next week and the rest of the season."
Those points of emphasis from the coaching staff were not lost in the excitement of the first day.
"Talk to each other!" Paige yelled out to her teammates during a scrimmage with several members of the scout team. Early in the practice, Paige and Mealing pulled aside one of the freshman players and demonstrated the key points to successfully boxing out an opponent on the defensive end.
Communication between the seniors made its way down to the underclassmen. By the end of practice, every member of the Knights was talking on the floor, calling for the ball or directing teammates where to go.
"We are putting a lot of responsibilities on the seniors. It's up to them to bring that intensity out of their teammates. They've done a good job of being internally motivated. They're aware of the sense of urgency of being a senior and know that this is their last opportunity," Brown added.
After two hours, head coach Joi Williams called her team in for the conclusion of the year's first practice near midcourt. Williams stressed the importance of rest, eating right and being prepared for Monday's practice after a three-day weekend.
After all, for five members of the Knights, Monday marks the "last second practice" of their careers.