LAKELAND, Fla. – The Southeastern women's basketball will grace the brand new boards of The Furnace to kick off the 2015-16 season under the direction of its third head coach in three years tonight when it hosts 21
st-ranked Madonna.
After a single season with the Fire, Coach Jody Martinez resigned in July to accept a position as assistant women's basketball coach at the University of Illinois. His resignation opened the door for
Leann Dahlstein, the former head coach at Central Christian College in Moberly, Missouri, to return to familiar territory.
Martinez's stay with the Fire was short lived, but historic. With a 25-7 record, the most single season wins in program history, the Fire advanced to the NAIA Division II National Tournament for the first time. The biggest strength for the Fire was their outside shooting which ranked in the top five nationally in three pointers per game (12.5), total three pointers (400) and three point shooting accuracy (.359).
Dahlstein returns to Southeastern after serving as a graduate assistant during the 2012-13 season. She is the reigning NCCAA Division II National Coach of the Year, an honor that followed CCC's first 20-win season and an appearance in the NCCAA Division II championship game. During her tenure she went 37-21 and had five players honored as NCCAA All-Americans.
Last season, the Fire were seeded second in The Sun Conference after going 16-2 in conference play. They were upset by seventh seed Ave Maria in the quarterfinal round, but received a bid to the national tournament. Soon after arriving in Sioux City, Iowa, they were defeated in the opening round by Tennessee Wesleyan.
"This team is used to success and has a great work ethic to get better and further that success," said Dahlstein. "They are great shooters and smart players, making maturity one of our biggest strengths."
Junior
Alyssa Ramos comes off a stellar year after receiving Honorable Mention All-American recognition as well as First Team All-Conference honors. She led the nation in total 3-pointers made with 127 and led the team in scoring with an average of 15.4 points per game.
Carlie Newman enters her senior season at SEU after receiving First Team All-Conference honors last year. Her 12.1 points per game were good for second on the team behind Ramos and she shot 41% from the arch, good for 14
th in the NAIA.
Before resigning, Coach Martinez added two Florida Southern transfers to the roster.
Ali Sanders, a senior guard, played 26 games for the Mocs last season, shooting 35% from the field, 73% from the line, and averaging 5.1 points per game.
Sanders is joined by
Christin Strawbridge, a 6-2 junior forward who tied for the team high 8.7 points per game last season. She also led the team in rebounds per game with 6.4 and shot an impressive 54% from the field.
"With the new personnel and new coach, we are all trying to learn what our identity as a team will be. We are very good at many different things, so our challenge is going to be adding all of those good qualities together," said Dahlstein.
Southeastern was picked to finish second in The Sun Conference this season behind defending champion St. Thomas. The Fire also got some recognition nationally, and open the year receiving votes in the NAIA Division II Top 25.
"We will be successful if we can stay focused on the long run of our season and continually get better. We have a difficult schedule and must stay focused on the season as a whole and not one individual game," said Dahlstein.
