Wesleyan women back in nationals where they belong

Melanie Barker

Sioux City, Iowa, has become an annual destination for the Tennessee Wesleyan College women’s basketball team.

Although the Lady Bulldogs were picked to win the Appalachian Athletic Conference again this year, a relatively inexperienced version of the team got off to a slow start and appeared unlikely to return to the site of the NAIA Division II national tournament. Yet here the Athens team is again, preparing for its tournament opener Wednesday afternoon in its sixth appearance in seven years after winning the AAC tournament as the third seed.

Tenth-year head coach Jeff Rice, who also had made six trips to the nationals in his 16 years as Stan Harrison’s assistant, said the preseason prediction was based on the program’s tradition, but a lot of production and leadership had graduated from last year’s 29-4 team.

“I knew we weren’t the best team going in,” Rice said, “but I thought we could be a good team down the road, and from mid-January on we have been a pretty good team.”