New coach stresses conditioning for Lady Bulldogs

Before the season started, the seniors for the Conway St. Joseph Lady Bulldogs picked their team motto as “One Team, One Family, One Glory” because, first-year head coach Kay Lynn Hill said, “they believe in having each other’s backs and pushing each other to get better.” “We are a family, and we give God glory in winning and losing,” Hill said. “He is our guiding force every day. We are blessed here at St. Joseph to be able to pray for each other and pray together as a team.” The Lady Bulldogs, who finished 13-16 overall last year, return two senior starters this season: inside threat Piper Mullaney and guard Alexis Roach. Hill said they were the leading scorers last season and were named all-conference. “Our five seniors have a variety of strengths, including experience, a positive attitude and a strong work ethic, which they bring every day to practice,” Hill said. “Our juniors and sophomores have high expectations for their contributions of quickness, shooting and aggressive defense.” Hill said St. Joseph is a small school, but the student-athletes have high expectations and “want success on the court, in the classroom and in the community.” “Our team is invested in their academics, which is seen in our team GPA of 4.06, but they are also constantly giving back,” Hill said. “They have contributed to raising funds and purchasing food for the Soul Food Cafe, helping at our flea market and offering free tutoring to our after-school care program, and working at various fundraisers for our booster club.” In addition to being on the basketball team, members of the team play volleyball and run cross country for the school. The coach said this offseason, she has stressed conditioning, so “our girls will finish our games as strongly as they start them.” “Every time we step foot on the court, it will be a game that we have to be ready for, because there are no easy games in our conference,” Hill said. “In order to be successful, we will just have to play more aggressively and take advantage of the opportunities we create.”