Hill College Women’s Basketball Preseason

  Robin DeMott
  Wednesday, October 30, 2019 11:00 AM
  Athletics

Hillsboro, TX

The Hill College Lady Rebels Basketball open up the 2019-20 season when they host Jacksonville College on Friday, Nov. 1. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Bob Bullock Sports Center on the Hill County Campus. Hill is coming off a conference championship season that saw the Rebels go 21-10 (14-2 in North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC play) and a #25 ranking in the final National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) poll.  

The Lady Rebels have looked strong in their pre-season scrimmages thus far, outscoring all six of their opponents. Last Saturday, Hill knocked off Paris Junior College (62-32), Howard College (41-39) and Richland College (68-23). The Lady Rebels then traveled to Arlington Baptist on Tuesday for an exhibition game. Hill College started slowly, digging themselves an 11-point deficit in the first quarter, but bounced back, outscoring the hosts 43-15 over the next two quarters to walk away with a 62-51 advantage. 

Hill College Head Coach Scott Hyland is very upbeat about how the Rebels have played so far in the pre-season. “I really like the progress we are making defensively right now,” says Hyland. The pace of our offense is going to provide us opportunities to score until our execution improves, but we need to be solid defensively.  We led the conference in scoring defense last season and right now we are showing glimpses of being every bit as good this year at that end of the floor. 

The Lady Rebels return a strong nucleus of Emily Cunningham, Brianna Pena and Daija Planas. 

Cunningham, a 6-1 sophomore from Milford, averaged eight points and three rebounds per game while making a team high 68 three-point field goals last season. Pena is a 5-9 wing from Weslaco. She averaged 6.6 points and 2.3 rebounds per game and 23 three-point field goals while shooting a team best 41.8 percent from beyond the arc. Planas, is a 5-7 point guard from Killeen. She averaged 2.7 points and 3.6 assists per game during last season. 

The Lady Rebels Basketball home opener will follow a game featuring Cisco College and Texas Wesleyan JV that starts at 5 p.m. Admission for the game is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Children 10 and under are admitted for free.