Richards Era begins Wednesday

Stasha Richards will oversee her first game as the 17th head coach in the history of Fort Scott Community College's women's basketball program Wednesday night at Ottawa when the Greyhounds play the Ottawa University junior varsity team.

Richards takes over for Kristy Guffey, who finished her three-year tenure with the third-most wins in school history, 47, and was just the third coach to finish with a career mark of .500 (Only one coach, Larry Krull, finished over .500, going 46-44 from 1980-81 to 1982-83). Last season's team finished 22-10 and advanced to the Region VI Quarterfinals. The 22 wins were the third-most in school history and the quarterfinal appearance was just the third for the program.

Returning to such a lofty status will not be easy for Richards as two Division I players have moved to their four-year schools: Jayhawk Conference--Eastern Division Most Valuable Player Keisha Walker to Texas Tech and Tiffany Coppage following Guffey to Missouri State University.

With only three returning lettermen, conference coaches picked the Greyhounds to finish seventh in the East this season. Coffeyville was picked to defend its division title.

"Bottom half," Richards said when asked where she thought the Greyhounds would finish in a pre-season questionnaire in advance of the coaches' poll. "We only have nine players to start out with, so depth will be an issue."

Richards, however, may have the most impressive first-year resume any FSCC coach has ever brought to the position. She was an assistant at Division I Eastern Kentucky last season, working with front court players and assisting in the day-to-day operations of the program.

Prior to that, Richards was an assistant at Clarendon (Texas) College, helping the Bulldogs to a position in the Region V Tournament out of one of the tougher regions for women's basketball, which includes nationally-ranked Midland and South Plains.

Her college playing career was spent at Baylor University. She started her last three years, helping the Bears get to the 2003 Women's National Invitational Tournament championship game after they had made the NCAA tournament the previous two seasons. These teams were the foundation for the 2005 national championship team. As a senior, Richards averaged 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds and was third on the team with 53 steals.

Richards also scored 1,000 points in her high-school career at North Shore High School in Houston, Texas. She was a Texas Association of Basketball Coaches All-State honoree her senior season.

Richards will build the 2006-07 team around returnees Amber Bowles (6' 0", Soph., Leavenworth), Brittany English (6' 1", Soph., Kansas City, Kan.-Schlagle) and Kenya Doss (5' 7", Soph., Chicago). The Greyhounds' other sophomores are transfer Brittany Watkins (5' 8", Soph., Port Arthur, Texas) and Miranda Chaney (5' 9", Soph., Humansivlle, Mo.), who also plays softball.

The freshmen class includes Brittney Bowles (5' 9", Lawrence), who is Amber's sister, Leondra Doomes-Stephens (5' 8", Charlotte, N.C.), Fatima Lawrence (5' 8", Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Ashley Jappa (6' 3", Kansas City, Kan.).

Doss, although not a full-time starter, is the leading scorer among the returning players, averaging 6.9 points a game last season to Bowles' 6.8. English averaged 5.7 points. Bowles was the leading rebounder with 6.7 per game while English had 6.1. Bowles also shot 48 percent from the field, English 45 percent and Doss, a wing-guard type player last season, 37 percent.

"(Bowles) is a strong post that we will rely on heavily in the paint," Richards said earlier this season. "Her athletic ability will help us on the offensive and defensive ends."

Doomes-Stephens was an Honorable Mention All-Area player for the Charlotte region last season, which made her one of the top 15 players in the area. She'll likely be the one running the Greyhound offense, meaning she'll have to become one of the top players in the conference as the season goes on.

Jappa is not only hopefully a nice addition to the Greyhound frontcourt but also gifted with some quickness as evidenced by the fact that she was a Kansas state 400-meter qualifier her junior year at Schlagle.

"They won't have the luxury to sit back and be freshmen," Richards said earlier this month. "They have to jump in there and play a lot of minutes early."

Richards said that the Greyhounds will relay on their athleticism so that they can create on the run. Playing a half-court, banging in the post type of game will wear out the players faster and expose their depth issues.

The Greyhounds' season tips off at 7:30 Wednesday night in Ottawa. The first of three first semester home games will take place Monday at 6 p.m. against the Missouri Valley College junior varsity.

NOTES -- A rare visit from a KJCCC Western Division team will take place Dec. 29 when Barton County, picked to finish in second place in the West behind defending champ Seward County, will come to Arnold Arena for a 4 p.m tip off....

The first conference game is Jan. 5 at East favorite Coffeyville. The first home conference game is Jan. 12 against Independence, which will be first of a six-game stretch that sees five home contests....

2007-08 schedule

a -- Highland Classic.

b -- Jayhawk Conference Shootout at Coffeyville.

All games Jan. 5 and later are Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference-Eastern Division games.