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20 Northwest Arkansas Basketball Sunday, November 3, 2019 "We are very excited to get as much talent as we did in one class," Boone said. "Matthew (Wilson) is excited to be closer to home and playing near his backyard. It's always nice getting Divi- sion I talent like Brian. And Charles is going to be the spark plug and key to this turnaround. He is a coach's point guard. We look for everybody to play key roles." The Lions enter with uncertainty on what roles will be for each player, but Boone said the talent on the team will allow them to be good once all is fig- ured out. "I don't know when we are going to fit the puzzle together," Boone said. "But we are going to come in every day and work hard. One day we are going to put it all together. We'll have every opportu- nity to do that because we have a good group of kids." UAFS LADY LIONS University of Arkansas-Fort Smith coach Tari Cummings got off to a bit of a late start being hired in July last year. That didn't slow her down much in her first season ever as a head coach. Cummings, a former assistant coach and player at the program, was able to guide the Lady Lions to a 10-17 overall and a 7-7 conference record. That included making the conference tournament in the program's final year in the Heartland Conference. "That first year was definitely a learn- ing experience," Cummings said. "There was a lot of good we did last year. We didn't finish the way I would've liked. I have high expectations. But we did get better as the year went. We have estab- lished the culture moving forward." The Lady Lions return four key play- ers back from last year's team in senior forward Tamera Gulley, senior guard Alexsis Brown, junior guard Dachelle Terry from Springdale and sophomore forward Leiloni Culley. Gulley averaged nine points and six rebounds a season ago, while Brown had eight points and three assists per game a year ago. "Gulley and Brown are our two se- niors and we are expecting big things from both," Cummings said. "Gulley is working hard and making changes in a positive way. Alexsis hurt her ankle and wasn't fully healthy all last year. We are expecting her to have a great season. Leadership is key from both of them." Terry and Culley will be key contrib- utors as well bring back a lot of experi- ence. "I project more on offense from Terry this year," Cummings said. "She will be more steady shooting the ball for us. Cul- ley has come back a completely different person from her freshman year. She had some big games down the stretch for us. We hope to see that more consistently." Transfers in junior guard Paige Elston and junior post Mar'Shalia Lollie along- side a freshman class of Hannah Boyett, Flaka Ortiz, Tarondia Harold, Ashanti Eden, Laurissa Campbell are all expected to make an impact. "We are excited to have the transfers bring some experience to our team," Cummings said. "They will help us out a lot. Our freshmen are young right now. But it's exciting because each of them brings something to the table. For us to be as good as we want to be, everybody will need to help out." The Lady Lions will compete in the Lone Star Conference for the first time this season. It'll be a new conference, but the team will still have the same goal as last year of wanting to keep the season alive with postseason play. "We are all on the same page because we want to win as many games as we can," Cummings said. "We want to make the cut to the conference tournament because not everybody makes it in that. We just want to win games. We keep it as simple as that sometimes." UAFS v Continued from Page 19 UAFS women's basketball schedule Date Opponent Time Nov. 8 ..........................vs. Colorado School of Mines! ................... 12 p.m. Nov. 9 ................................vs. Colorado Christian! ............................5 p.m. Nov. 13 ................................ at Central Oklahoma ......................... 5:30 p.m. Nov. 16 ............................... at Northeastern State ..............................1 p.m. Nov. 21 ........................... Texas A&M International* .................... 5:30 p.m. Nov. 23 ..............................Texas A&M-Kingsville* ............................2 p.m. Nov. 30 .......................................East Central......................................2 p.m. Dec. 6 ............................................ at Drury .......................................11 a.m. Dec. 14 ..............................at Oklahoma Christian* ............................2 p.m. Dec. 19 .............................at Eastern New Mexico* ..................... 5:30 p.m. Dec. 21 ............................... at West Texas A&M* ..............................2 p.m. Jan. 2 ....................................... at St. Mary's* .............................. 5:30 p.m. Jan. 4 ..................................... at St. Edward's* ..................................2 p.m. Jan. 9 .....................................Texas Woman's* ........................... 5:30 p.m. Jan. 11 ......................................... Tarleton* ........................................2 p.m. Jan. 16 ...........................at Texas A&M-Commerce* ................... 5:30 p.m. Jan. 18 .......................................at UT Tyler* .....................................2 p.m. Jan. 23 ........................................ Cameron* ................................. 5:30 p.m. Jan. 25 ................................. Midwestern State* ................................2 p.m. Feb 1 ...................................Oklahoma Christian* ..............................2 p.m. Feb. 6 .............................. at Western New Mexico* ..................... 5:30 p.m. Feb. 8 .................................at UT Permian Basin* .............................2 p.m. Feb. 13 .................................Lubbock Christian* ......................... 5:30 p.m. Feb. 15 ..................................... Angelo State* ....................................2 p.m. Feb. 20 ............................... at Midwestern State* ........................ 5:30 p.m. Feb. 22 ...................................... at Cameron* .....................................2 p.m. Feb. 27 .........................................UT Tyler* ................................. 5:30 p.m. Feb. 29 .............................Texas A&M-Commerce* ...........................2 p.m. Mar. 5-8 ................... Lone Star Conference Tournament ...................... TBA !Conference Challenge tournament at Austin *Lone Star Conference game Photo courtesy of University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Senior guard Alexsis Brown is one of four key players returning for the University of Ar- kansas-Fort Smith women's basketball team this season. Cummings Community Blood Center of the Ozarks www.cbco.org Save a life This spaCe COurTesy NWa DemOCraT-GazeTTe