Oasha White was one of only two players to appear in all 27 games last year for Park.

PARKVILLE, Mo. – In his 13th season at the helm of the Park University women’s basketball program, head coach Joe C. Meriweather will look for a mixture of returners and a crop of new talent to help lead his 2009-10 basketball team to success.

Coach Meriweather has eight returning players on his squad, and brings in eight newcomers. Park returns three seniors, one junior, three sophomores and a redshirt freshman, while the team welcomes in five freshmen, a sophomore and two juniors.

Park will begin the 2009-10 season with an exhibition game against Livin the Dream, this Saturday, Oct. 17 at 1:00 p.m. at the Breckon Sports Center. Admission is free to the public.

Park and LTD opened up the 2008-09 season in thrilling fashion last year with the contest going down to the wire and Park eventually coming out with a 66-65 victory on Oct.11, 2008.

Livin' The Dream consists of one men’s and one women’s traveling exhibition team comprised of former college and professional athletes that compete against top NCAA, NAIA, Junior College and International competition.

The primary purpose of the LTD Exhibition teams are to develop positive relationships with academic and professional basketball institutions worldwide in the hopes of helping them better their programs through competition while maintaining its overall mission as a ministry for Christ.

Park went 5-22 last season and had a streak of twelve straight losses at one point, but Coach Meriweather believes this year’s team has a whole new attitude about them.

“From what I’ve seen so far this offseason all of our players have come out with a good attitude and are working very hard,” Meriweather said. “They are working together as a team, which is a good sign and they know that they will not be successful without a lot of hard work.”

Leading the way for the returners is three-year starter Traci Oden. The Richmond, Mo. native appeared in 26 games last season for Park and started in 18, only missing one game all year.

Point guard Stefany Jones also returns for the Pirates, after starting 15 games for Park last season. Jones has played in 31 games for coach Meriweather in her two years at Park.

Park will also return some size to the lineup, as 6-1 sophomore forward Dominique Hayes will look to continue her success from last year. Hayes was one of Park’s leading rebounders a year ago grabbing 6.4 boards a game.

She was also named the Association of Independent Institutions Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 3, 2008. Hayes grabbed 23 rebounds and scored 11 points against McKendree that week to earn the award.

“It’s great to have so many returners coming back because they are used to our style of play here and should be used to the college game by now,” Meriweather said. “It is difficult that first year playing college ball because the game is very different and the pace is so much quicker than in high school, but our sophomores are very mature and I’m anxious to see it all come together.”

The Pirates will feature a diverse group of newcomers including five guards and three forwards.

One of the guards is 6-0 red shirt freshman Emma Hart. A native of Essex, England, Hart sat out the 2008-09 season and prepared all summer long for her first year of competition for the Pirates.

Hart is mainly a perimeter threat and will look to see some playing time at the small forward and shooting guard position.

Park will also have a two-sport athlete in their frontcourt as freshman Jasmine Kassanavoid will retire her knee pads for the winter and join the women’s basketball team once the Park women’s volleyball season is over.

Kassanavoid is a 5-9 forward out of Lawson, Mo. and saw action for the women’s volleyball squad all season long as an outside hitter.

The Pirates will also usher in four new freshmen who all hail from the state of Missouri, as Sarah Hall joins the team as a 5-10 freshman from Cameron, Mo., Lauren Hatten also joins the Pirates this season from Alton, Mo.

Rounding out the final two freshman is 6-0 freshman Vanessa Van Bleisem from Smithville, Mo. and 6-0 freshman Kaitlin Lewis out of Kansas City, Mo.

Park will kickoff the 2009-10 regular season on the road on Nov. 6 against Avila University at 1:00 p.m. at the MidAmerica Nazarene Classic in Olathe, Kan.

Park’s first home game will matchup the Pirates against Missouri Valley College, on Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m. inside the Breckon Sports Center. The Pirates defeated Missouri Valley both on the road and at home last season.

-PARK-