PHOTO COURTESY OF ABIGAIL LEGGETT/ARKANSAS STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Red Wolves women’s basketball team finished the 2024-25 season with a record of 21-11 overall and 13-5 in the Sun Belt Conference. Fourth-year head coach Destinee Rogers looks to build off the NCAA Tournament bid from last season. 

Coach Rogers retained five starters from last year as they look to take a bigger step in the tournament. Even with the team’s tournament appearance, Coach Rogers said she wants the group to stay hungry and focused.

“I think what makes a successful program is you do it over and over again. I’m not speaking about championships. I’m speaking on winning, and I think that they understand what it takes now. I hold them to the fire every single day,” Coach Rogers said.

She added that the team’s standards have become a defining part of the program.

“We’ve built a standard and a culture here that if you don’t meet that, then you’re probably gonna run a ton in practice,” Coach Rogers said. “And they understand that. They know that, and they lead the way with that.”

Her returning players said the system from last season will help them find even more success this year. Guard MiMi McCollister said the focus will be on consistency and effort every day. “We just have to be consistent. Work hard, harder every day. We can’t get complacent,” McCollister said.

Guard Wynter Rogers said she’s looking forward to a second year in the team’s new system and helping the younger players adjust.

“We know our system a lot better than you know the newcomers. And just being able to sometimes pull them aside whenever they’re not sure about certain things, be able to explain things to them, because now we know, since we’ve been in the system, this new system for a year, so it just been fun, you know, taking on like mentor roles with them,” said Rogers.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ABIGAIL LEGGETT/ARKANSAS STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

She added that the team’s offense has improved over the offseason.

“I feel like we moved the ball a lot better for one but our reads have been a lot quicker, and I feel like we’re making more shots at this point than we were at the start of the summer,” Rogers said.

Team chemistry has also been a bright spot early in the season.

“I feel like this group is really special, like it’s different types of energy and different types of personalities,” guard Crislyn Rose said 

Guard Zyion Shannon said she aims to step up as a leader and continue developing her game.

“I’ve been trying to become better with my floater, and using that a lot more. And just like, yeah, trying to work on that. And not just shooting and only driving but just figuring out something different to change up, because obviously they’ve seen my game,” said Shannon.

The Red Wolves begin their season on November 3 at home against defending Mid-American Conference champions Ball State for the first game of the MAC-SBC challenge. There will be a special pre-game championship banner ceremony.

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