WOMEN'S NOTES

FOR STARTERS
Basketball season is back as Southern Nazarene gets set to host York on homecoming. SNU ended the season last year as the hottest team in the Great American Conference winning 13 of its last 14 games and won the NCCAA National Championship.

The Crimson Storm look to keep the momentum flowing as they return three vital players to this year's team. Aminata Fall, led the conference in rebounding and blocked shots as she returns for her junior season. The Storm also return Kristin Milster and Ashleigh Hutchings from last season's team. Both players were key contributors to last year's postseason run.

The Crimson Storm also return Callee Cox, Hayley Brown from last's season's national title run. Freshman Oliva Chapman and Abby Boyd will play key roles early for the Crimson Storm at the guard position. Chapman comes from Birmingham, Ala., where she helped Ramsey High School to the area championship. Boyd was an Big All-City and All-Metro Conference selection as a senior at Yukon High School.

ABOUT TODAY'S OPPONENT
Southern Nazarene and York have only played each other twice. The Storm lead the series with a 2-0 record against the Panthers. The first ever meeting between the two schools took place on Nov. 11, 1998 at SNU. The Storm won the game 106-29. The last meeting between the schools took place on Dec. 11

2003 in Bethany. SNU won the game 79-64. This will be the first meeting in ten years between the two schools. Since the 1999-2000 season Southern Nazarene is 14-0 in home openers. The Storm have never played York in a home opener. The Panthers are 1-1 this season with an 80-50 loss at Dordt College and a 105-44 win at Grace (Neb.). Carlie Bonderer scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Cory Minjarez scored 17 points in their last game at Grace. The Panthers are shooting 39 percent from the field and 19 percent from the three-point line. York has out rebounded opponents 109-82 this season and is only allowing 62 points per game.

RECORD BREAKERS
Last season, Fall set single-season records for most rebounds with 430, most rebounds per game (14.3), and blocked shots with 96. Fall is currently seventh in school history in total blocked shots with 113.

GAC CONFERENCE OUTLOOK
The Storm are predicted to finish in sixth place in the Great American Conference after finishing with a 14-6 record and a fourth place finish last season. Harding was picked to win the conference as they return all five starters from last season. Southwestern Oklahoma State is picked to finish second while Arkansas Tech was picked to finish third. Southern Nazarene did not receive any first place votes.

MEN'S NOTES

FOR STARTERS
She season opener is here and Southern Nazarene couldn't ask for a better season opener than Homecoming. The Crimson Storm played in front of the home fans for the first time Tuesday night in a 98-63 win over Southwestern Christian in an exhibition. 

Quan Conner scored 22 points while newcomer CJ Smith scored 21. Garrett Butler and Francisco Hukill each added 13 while LB Willis scored 12. 

The Crimson Storm are coming off a 15-13 (9-11 GAC) season in which they return two starters and its top scorer from a year ago in Quan Conner. The senior from Chicago, Ill., was second in the Great American Conference in scoring last year and was named All-GAC second team. Conner received a Preseason All-American honorable mention from the Division II Bulletin and was named the Preseason GAC Player of the Year as well.

Sophomore Garrett Butler and senior Antwone Jackson also return. Butler averaged 14.0 points per game down the stretch while Jackson started in all but one game he played in the post for SNU. Jackson also led the team and was third in the GAC in blocks per game at 1.7.

There will be plenty of new faces this year for SNU Head Coach Adam Bohac, including junior college transfers CJ Smith and Aziz Thiandoum who are both expected to make immediate impacts. John Mosser and LB Willis are also two freshmen who will see significant time on the floor. The bench for SNU is expected to be deep as well.

THE MATCH UP
York is coming off two wins to open its season. The Panthers downed Concordia (Neb.) 86-79 and Kansas Wesleyan 98-88. Andre Vaughn and Dylan Brewer lead the way for the Panthers as they are averaging a combined 36.5 points per game.

The Crimson Storm are 8-0 all-time against York with the most recent win coming in a 92-68 victory back in 2010 inside the Sawyer Center.

PROTECTING THE HOUSE
The Crimson Storm are 20-1 in home openers since the 1992-93 season. SNU had one 18 straight home openers coming into the 2011 season, before Central Oklahoma survived an overtime thriller 87-83. 

OUT OF THE NORM
Southern Nazarene is 19-3 against non-conference opponents over the past three seasons in the regular season and were 6-2 in the non-conference last year.