SAN ANTONIO (Oct. 27, 2023) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) women's basketball program surges into its 15th season starting on Nov. 3. Head Coach Tanya Ray will look to build after her first season and welcomes Candice Chaney as her new assistant coach.

2022-2023 season

The Saints finished the 2022-2023 season with a 15-13 overall record and a 12-8 mark in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). OLLU ranked in the NAIA top five by limiting opponents' three-point percentage to 23.1 percent. The Saints qualified for the conference postseason tournament and lost to Xavier University of Louisiana in the quarterfinals to end the season.

Coaching staff

Chaney joins Ray after a stint at Great Hearts Western Hills, where she was a physical education teacher and club coordinator. She is a San Antonio native, and her collegiate experience includes assistant coach positions at Rogers State University and Texas Lutheran University. Ray commented, "Candice has experience in the high school and college levels and brings that knowledge with her. She knows how to communicate with the players and make a meaningful impact." Annesa Lopez and Ysabella Alcala return for their second year as student assistants.

Nonconference schedule

(Numbers after schools indicate series record.)

The Saints begin the season with exhibitions at Sam Houston State University on Nov. 3 and at the University of the Incarnate Word on Nov. 7. OLLU hosts Texas Wesleyan University (6-4) on Nov. 10 in the OLLU Halo Classic to open regular season play. They will face William Carey University twice and Trinity Christian College once in the tournament. The Saints will be battling both programs for the first time.

OLLU plays in Oklahoma City against Mid-America Christian University (1-0) on Nov. 20 and Southwestern Christian University (1-1) on Nov. 21. They close the nonconference campaign with an exhibition at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi on Dec. 19 and a home game against Wayland Baptist University (4-7) on Dec. 29.

Conference schedule

The Saints are picked to finish fifth in the RRAC 2023-2024 Preseason Poll. OLLU concluded last season in fifth place. Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) was first with an undefeated 20-0 conference mark. LSU-Shreveport (LSUS) was the runner-up, followed by Louisiana Christian University (LCU) in third, Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) in fourth, LSU-Alexandria (LSUS) in sixth, Huston-Tillotson University (HTU) in seventh, Jarvis Christian University (JCU) in eighth, Texas College (TC) in ninth, Paul Quinn College (PQC) in 10th and the University of the Southwest (USW) in 11th.

The conference schedule starts on Nov. 30 when the Saints travel to Hawkins, Texas, to play JCU (25-3). They continue the road matchups against TC (23-2) on Dec. 2 and HTU (30-2) on Dec. 9. The Saints host LSUS (19-17) on Dec. 14 and TAMUT (4-2) on Dec. 16 for the first home conference games of the year. Following a few nonconference games, the Saints welcome conference newcomer North American University (NAU) (1-0) on Jan. 4. XULA also makes the trip to San Antonio two days later on Jan. 6.

The Saints start a road trip from Jan. 11-20 with games against PQC (23-1), USW (25-1), LSUA (13-2) and LCU (2-2). The conference home and away schedule changes on Jan. 25, meaning the Saints have faced all programs once and will flip who hosts the games. The Saints host JCU on Jan. 25, TC on Jan. 27, PQC on Feb. 8, USW on Feb. 10, LSUA on Feb. 15, LCU on Feb. 17 and HTU on Feb. 27. The road games are at LSUS on Feb. 1, TAMUT on Feb. 3, NAU on Feb. 22 and XULA on Feb. 24.

Returners

The Saints return three seniors and one graduate student. The senior class includes Carrie Barrera-Lacy, Ariadna Gallardo and Cormia Lewis. Deja Williams joins the group from Eastern Oklahoma State College. Tiffany Lopez and Lorena Ramirez will play as graduate students, and both are the longest-tenured athletes on the team. Lopez was named to the RRAC All-Conference Second Team last season. Lewis and Ramirez were Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes the previous year.

Julissa Garza is back for her junior year, while Hailee Brandon and Kalista Niu arrive in San Antonio as transfers. Brandon played at Dawson Community College, while Niu competed at Central Wyoming College. Jillian Torres starts her second year, joined by Deja Hinson from Cisco College.

Newcomers

The freshman class makes up a majority of the roster. Marta Gehlhaar, Evangeline Hernandez, Amya Miller-Singleton, Carlea Owens, Julia Plata, Asia Prudhomme and Kiana Valdez are all newcomers. Six of the athletes are Texas natives, and Gehlhaar comes from Germany.

Fan expectations

The Saints' home games will be livestreamed on the OLLU Saints Network. Ray said, "The leadership on the team has been excellent, and they have been working hard every day. This will be a great group for the fans to come out and cheer on."