WOMEN'S HOOP PREVIEW

Today women's college basketball begins the 2020-21 season. Here are a few games worth checking out.

Murray State at Kentucky

Lead guard Macey Turley leads Murray State in its opener against the favorite Kentucky. Turley was the top performer for Murray State during the 2019-20 season as she led the team in scoring (16.6), assists (4.4) and free-throw shooting (.872). Laci Hawthorne also averaged a near double-double last season for Murray State when she posted 10.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

Kentucky is coming off of a 22-8 season, with one of the best scorers in the nation. Rhyne Howard is a 6-2 guard that averaged 23 points per game as sophomore. She also contributed as the team's top rebounder as well as the leader in steals and assists. KeKe McKinney is the team's top shot blocker as she blocked 42 shots in 26 contests. The senior also improved offensively last season as she brought her shot percentage up from 33 to 48 percent. She also shot 41 percent from three, up from 20 percent her freshman season.

Charlotte at Appalachian State

UNC-Charlotte was 21-9 last season and looks to continue its winning ways in the 2020-21 season against Appalachian State. The 49ers are led by Mariah Linney who is the team's top returning scorer (9.5). She also led the team in minutes per game (32.3). Last season she showed flashes of being a dominant scorer when she posted 25, 20 and 19 points in games against Boston College, East Carolina and Wake Forest respectively. Jada McMillian is a solid point guard who is capable of putting the ball in the basket as well.

Appalachian State's Pre Stanley leads the way for her squad with team bests with 14 points and 1.6 steals per game. The 5-9 guard had a 25-point performance last season against Costal Carolina late last season.

Georgia State at Georgia Tech

Two Atlanta based schools will do battle as the favored Georgia Tech takes on Georgia State. Taylor Hosendove is the top returning player for the Panthers. She was named Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team. The 6-1 forward/guard averaged 11 points and eight rebounds per game. Back-t0-back big time performances where she scored 21 points and 19 rebounds followed by 20 points and 18 rebounds, respectively against UTEP and Furman.

Georgia Tech defeated its opponents 69-28, on its way to a 20-11 season. Led by the duo of Lorela Cubaj and Kierra Fletcher, the Yellow Jackets expect another strong season. Cubaj is a 6-4 forward from Italy that led Tech in rebounding at 7.7 boards per contest to go along with 10 points per game. Fletcher is a 5-9 guard from Warren, Michigan who was second in rebounding (6.2) as well as scoring (10.2). She led the team in assists with an average of three per contest.

Houston at Oklahoma

Houston takes on Oklahoma as it looks to see how 6-5 junior college transfer guard Daphane White will perform in her NCAA Division I debut. The Mississippi native was a rebounding machine at Mississippi Gulf Coast as she averaged 11 boards to go along with 15.7 points per game. Another key player is 6-1 forward Tatyana Hill. Last season she stepped her game up as her role increased from reserve to full-time starter. She improved her scoring from five points to 10.9 points per game. She also stepped her rebounding up from 2.7 to 6.5 rebounds per game.

Oklahoma will look to improve on a disappointing 12-18 season in 2019-20. It will attempt to do that by avenging an 85-69 loss to Houston. Junior guard Taylor Robertson is a great three-point shooter who averaged 19.1 points per game last season. She made 131 of her team's 242 total three-pointers while shooting 42 percent from beyond the arc. Forward Madi Williams is also a strong scorer (16.1) who is the team's best rebounder. She averaged 7.3 rebounds per game last year as she started last season with at least 13 rebounds in four of her first five games.