WBB: Seattle Redhawks 2024-25 Team Preview
WBB: Seattle Redhawks 2024-25 Team Preview
It's the final year in the WAC for the Redhawks...is the Emerald City in for something special?
After a slow start to the 2023-24 season, the Seattle U women’s basketball team rallied to win five of their final eight games, missing the WAC tournament by a game, but ending the year on a positive note.
This offseason, second-year head coach Skyler Young retooled the roster by bringing in five portal transfers, and four true freshmen to join returners Julianna Walker and Sheridan Liggett.
Let’s take a look at the final edition of the Redhawks that will participate in Western Athletic Conference women’s basketball.
Head Coach:
Skyler Young (2nd year, 6-23 overall, 6-14 WAC)
Last Year:
6-23 overall, 6-14 WAC
Key Losses:
Mya Moore (portal-Cleveland State)
Makayla Moore (portal-Arizona State)
Irena Korolenko (portal-Santa Clara)
Peyton Howard (portal-Eastern Washington)
Key Returners:
Julianna Walker
Notable Portal Additions:
Olivia Moore (Long Beach State)
Tamia Stricklin (Fresno State)
Taisiya Koslova (Maryland/Dayton)
Skyler Young only brings back one starter from last year’s team that missed #WACVegas by a game. However, Young and his staff hit the portal, and made some nice additions.
Olivia Moore, in a small sample size, shot the ball pretty well at Long Beach State (12 of 34), and heads home to try to help the Redhawks after playing only less than 200 minutes a season ago.
Tamia Stricklin played in 22 games at Fresno State last year, averaging 16 minutes per game, shooting 42 percent from 3-point range in 2021-22 (25 of 60).
Tai Kozlova appeared in 50 games over two years at Dayton and shot 32 percent from 3-point range (54 of 171).
“We went into the portal and wanted to add some length and athleticism to our roster,” Young said on the Straight Outta WAC podcast. “This group can also shoot the ball pretty well.”
Young also added experience with all four transfers either being redshirt seniors or graduate seniors.
Seattle rallied to win five of their final eight games last year
However, the Redhawks experienced massive roster turnover with seven portal entries, including four starters who recorded 25 or more starts a year ago.
Scheduling Tidbits:
Seattle starts with three of their first four games away from the Redhawk Center, including a trip to former WAC member Sam Houston State as part of the WAC/CUSA Scheduling Initiative.
Their lone appearance at home in that stretch is a November 18 home game against Portland State.
After Thanksgiving, the Redhawks again hit the road for a four-game road trip with two games at GCU’s Thanksgiving Classic followed by a pair of true road games at Arizona and Air Force.
“We’re so grateful to Coach Molly at GCU for giving us a place to play during the break,” Young said. “They have a great venue and getting two games there before conference play will help us when we do make that visit in late January.”
They’ll split road and home weeks around the Christmas Break with home games against Weber State and Kennesaw State along with road games against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Bakersfield.
After welcoming the defending champions in CBU to town on January 4, Seattle hits the road for a three-game trip which includes ACU, Utah Tech, and Southern Utah.
Starting February 13, the Redhawks finish with five of their final seven games at home.
Seattle’s schedule has just one opponent where the first and second matchups are separated by less than 15 days and that’s Tarleton.
Outlook:
With 10 new faces Seattle’s biggest question is how quickly will this team gel together against a pretty good non-conference schedule?
Seattle only averaged 63.6 points per game last year while shooting just under 38 percent in total field goal shooting and just under 30 percent from 3-point range.
That’s 8th of 11 WAC schools in points per game, 9th of 11 in total field goal percentage, and 9th in 3-point percentage.
Defensively, they allowed 75.2 points per game, which was last in scoring defense.
Seattle was also last in total field goal percentage, and 8th in 3-point field goal defense.
These are numbers that will have to improve if Seattle U is to move up the regular season leaderboard.
“I think we gave up a tremendous amount of 3s that maybe we shouldn’t have and also got hurt defensively with dribble penetration,” Young added. “You’ll see a more extended defense with our length and athleticism than what you saw last year on that end of the floor. Offensively, you’ll see a more up tempo style that will put threes up and rely more on transition than we did last year.”