The Miami University RedHawks women’s basketball team is looking to continue building a foundation under second-year head coach Glenn Box.
Miami finished last year with a record of 9-20 overall and 6-12 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), ending in slotin slot 10 of 12 for the third year in a row.
Despite the finish in the bottom of the conference, Miami was one of the youngest teams in the MAC and offers a lot of upside this season.
In this year’s MAC preseason poll, the RedHawks were picked to finish eighth and projected to make the MAC Tournament.
For Box, he said he was content with where Miami was picked to finish.
“This team is a lot further ahead than we were last year,” Box said at the opening press conference on Oct. 28. “If we get better every single day, the sky is the absolute limit.”
This season, the RedHawks have a solid base to add off last season, with seven returners.
Miami is returning four of its top five scorers, including an All-MAC Freshman Team selection in forward Amber Tretter.
Last season, Tretter emerged as one of the most reliable players on the team averaging 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists per game, one steal and one block per game.
She also had 10 double-doubles last season and was a strong scorer having 17 of her 29 games in double figures.
When asked about the upcoming season, Tretter said she is enthusiastic about her second season as a RedHawk.
“Last year, we were able to accomplish some things, but this year we have a lot more goals ahead,” Tretter said at the team’s opening practice. “This year, we want to accomplish a lot more, so it will be exciting.”
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Miami is also returning senior forward Katey Richason and sophomore guard Lakresha Edwards, two players who both missed a chunk of 2023-24 due to injuries.
Richason is coming back for her fourth season in a Miami uniform. She averaged nine points along with six rebounds and one assist in 18 games last year.
Edwards is another player who was limited last season, appearing in 17 games. During that stretch, she averaged six points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal per game while shooting 33% from beyond the arc.
The RedHawks also have two consistent players in Cori Lard and Hennessey Luu-Brown, who played 28 out of 29 games and offered continued depth to an up-and-coming team.
Lard and Luu-Brown are both players that filled the stat sheets. They made their presence known by combining for 348 points and 124 rebounds last season.
With a strong cast of returners in his first full offseason, Box was busy in the portal by securing three transfers, all of which are guards.
These players include junior Camille Jackson, graduate student Maya Chandler and sophomore Enjuliana Gonzalez.
Jackson transferred from the University of Illinois Fighting Illini. In her two seasons, she averaged five minutes per game. Despite her limited experience, with her playing in the Big Ten Conference, Box said she should be a valuable asset in the team’s arsenal.
Chandler especially is a player whom Miami fans should be excited about.
She spent her first three seasons with the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers before transferring to the Southern Methodist University Mustangs last season.
In four collegiate seasons, Chandler averaged nine points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal per game. She also shot 37% from the floor, 79% from the free throw line and 32% from deep.
With a team of more than half underclassmen (eight), Chandler’s veteran presence will mesh well with this current iteration of the RedHawks.
Lastly, Gonzalez is a transfer from the Mercer University Bears who in two seasons averaged 10 points and three rebounds. Last season, however, her season was cut short due to injury.
She only played three games, but her return to the court as a RedHawk is something she has waited all offseason for.
“I’m so excited, I can literally tear up just thinking about stepping on the floor and making an impact,” Gonzalez said.
Miami will look to make an impact with a roster full of high potential players including four new first years, three of which are guards.
First-year guards Ziul Gonzalez (Enjuliana’s sister), Tamar Singer and Emily Bratton all averaged over 10 points-per-game in their high school careers. Bratton specifically averaged 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals as a senior along with being a Ms. Basketball Finalist in Ohio.
First-year forward Ilse De Vries, a native of Groningen, Netherlands, also eyes to become a strong forward at 6-foot-3.
The RedHawks open up their season Nov. 4 at Millett Hall against the Appalachian State University Mountaineers at 7 p.m.
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