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Owens Express Women’s Basketball Opens Season Against Henry Ford Community College, Nov. 7

PERRYSBURG TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Owens Community College women’s basketball will look to continue its longstanding tradition of excellence as the Express open its 2012-13 campaign against Henry Ford Community College on Wednesday, Nov. 7. The season opener will begin at 5:30 p.m.

The Owens women’s basketball program is led by ninth-year Head Coach Michael Llanas. Last year, Llanas led the Express to a 25-6 overall record and in second place (10-2) in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) standings. Owens, which was ranked No. 7 in the final NJCAA Division II Women’s Basketball poll, lost to Sinclair Community College in the semifinals of the NJCAA Region XII Championships.

All home games are held at the College’s Student Health and Activities Center on the Toledo-area Campus. Owens is located on Oregon Road in Perrysburg Township.

“The coaching staff is excited about the upcoming season,” Llanas said. “We return a great group of veterans from a year ago and have added a very talented incoming class of first-year student-athletes. Depth, size and speed will be strengths to this year’s team. However, we have to be focused on getting better each and every day we set foot on the basketball court. If we can do that, a very successful season is good possibility.”

The Express have six players returning from last year’s team, including Emma Ricketts of Waterville (Anthony Wayne H.S.), Uniqua Mitchell of Detroit (Martin Luther King H.S.) and Mackenzie Heacock of Arlington (Arlington H.S.). Last year, Ricketts was an OCCAC All-Conference Honorable Mention selection. The sophomore forward was second on the team in scoring with a 13.1 points per game average. Ricketts also averaged 6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Mitchell is a sophomore guard and averaged 12.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3 assists per game for the Express last season. Her postseason honors included OCCAC All-Conference Second Team. During the 2011-12 season, Heacock averaged 8.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. The sophomore guard was named the team’s co-recipient of the Mark Henry Award.

Also returning to Owens are Danielle Bezeau of Swanton (Swanton H.S.), Karahn Scott of Toledo (Scott H.S.) and Bailee Adams of Genoa (Genoa H.S.). A sophomore guard, Bezeau averaged 3.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game for the Express. Scott is a sophomore forward and averaged 7.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Additionally, she was named the team’s Most Improved Player. Adams is a sophomore forward and averaged 1.9 points and 2 rebounds for the women’s basketball program last year. Her postseason honors included being named the co-recipient of the Mark Henry Award.

First-year players to the Express women’s basketball program are Jordyn Bond of Romulus, Mich., guard/forward (Romulus H.S.); Nandi Taylor of Mt. Morris, Mich., point guard (Hamady H.S.); Kamilah Carter of Ann Arbor, Mich., point guard (Pioneer H.S.); Eboni Adams of Cleveland, guard (Maple Heights H.S.); Taylor Marks of Flint, Mich., guard/forward (Beecher H.S.); Breonna House of Pontiac, Mich., guard (Pontiac H.S.); Meshia Smith of Pontiac, Mich., forward (Pontiac H.S.), and Malaysha Cammon of Dearborn, Mich., center (Divine Child H.S.).

Owens Community College is an accredited two-year, state-assisted institution of higher education that has served Northwest Ohio since 1965. With a commitment to providing small classes, personal attention and unmatched affordability, the College serves the diverse academic needs of credit and non-credit students on the Toledo-area and Findlay-area campuses, as well as at the Arrowhead Park Learning Center in Maumee and the Learning Center at The Source in downtown Toledo. Owens offers associate degrees that transfer to baccalaureate degrees in the Arts and Sciences and over 130 technical program areas in Agriculture, Business, Health Sciences, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Skilled Trades, and Engineering and Transportation Technologies. Owens students also can earn the first two years of a bachelor’s degree with a smooth transfer to any area four-year college or university. For more information, visit www.owens.edu.