In their first game as the LIU Sharks, the women’s basketball team fell to Saint Peter’s Peacocks in an 89-74 loss on November 5.
This was the season and home opener, for the newly christened LIU Sharks, in the Steinberg Wellness Center.
Throughout both halves, the Peacocks would hold onto the lead they gained early in the first quarter of the game as the Sharks could only trail behind them.
“Turnovers lead to a lot of transition points,” says newly appointed LIU women’s basketball Head Coach, Rene Haynes. Haynes was elected as the new LIU head coach in April 2019.
“We just have to take care of the ball better,” Haynes said.
The Sharks had 21 turnovers to the Peacocks’ 14. The Peacocks gained 24 points from turnovers to the Sharks’ nine.
Haynes continues, “I love the intensity of our team. They did not give up, they competed today.”
“We had 57 rebounds. We had 32 offensive rebounds. In that area, they really took care of it [rebounding] and I think we’re just building. There’s different pieces that still need improvement, but we’ll put it all together,” Haynes said.
Throughout the duration of the game, the Sharks would drive or pass the ball into the paint rather than take long-range shots from the arc.
Haynes would detail the main factor of her playbook for her team, “Having really high energy, attacking [the paint] and post-touches are very important. It’s all about finding your teammates and it’s up to us to put them in the best situations possible to make a play.”
The 2018-19 Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year, Brandy Thomas, a sophomore guard who averaged a double-double last season with 13.9 points and 10.4 rebounds, had a stellar game on November 5.
Thomas scored 19 points and gained 16 rebounds, including eight offensive rebounds, in this season opening game.
“Brandy is a very intense player,” says Haynes, “She never gives up. She’s growing into a leader on this team and I think she also has teammates that are ready to match that and bring it along with her.”
After five seasons as the assistant coach for the Duke Blue Devils, this was Rene Haynes’ first game as a head coach.
“I’m giving one-hundred percent to this team and we want to represent LIU well across our chest,” Haynes lastly said.
The LIU Sharks would go onto face the Rhode Island Rams, their first away game, in a 79-56 loss, on November 7.
The women’s basketball team’s third game will be in the Wellness Center against the Fairfield Stags on November 13 at 7pm.