Head coach Sharon Fanning always says the next game is the biggest.
Today, that’s Gospel.
The No. 8 Baylor Bears (1-1) will visit the Lady Bulldogs (1-0) at 5 p.m. that will start a hoops double-header.
Guard Doceide Warren, a Texas native, summed it up in one word.
“Payback,” she said, referring to the rematch of a game the undermanned Lady Dawgs lost 88-45.
All of the Lady Dawgs have this game circled since last season’s auspicious opener, the biggest loss in their Maroon and White careers.
For Warren, it’s extra personal because she’s rivaled Baylor’s Steffanie Blackmon (18.0 points per game) since high school.
Fanning wants her players to avoid getting caught up in the memory of last year’s game.
“It’s going to have to be play-by-play. Every five-minute segment is going to be extremely important,” Fanning said. “You can’t want something too much, but you have to have a vision of what you are trying to accomplish.”
Fanning said upsetting Baylor, a team that returned four starters from last season’s Sweet 16 squad, won’t be easy, but is feasible.
“They have a great tandem inside and excellent quickness on the perimeter,” she said. “They are truly a very good basketball team. We just have to be better. It’s going to take fundamentals.”
Fanning said the doubleheader was not originally planned, but the format might help energize and enlarge the crowd.
“I think it can be a positive,” she said. “We hope the fans on both ends of the tickets will work with each other on seating.”