TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Golden Eagle basketball is back.
Following a men's season opener on Wednesday, CSI's women's team starts their season looking to make it to their third straight national tournament appearance.
This women's team opens the season ranked 10th in Division one junior college athletics with an almost completely new roster. Head coach Randy Rogers is in his 21st season with the golden eagles and has high expectations for his roster.
“I expect this team to come out and play hard. They are going to be excited; they’re going to be nervous. You know there are a lot of new kids to the program, and we preach effort and we will take effort if the results are there,” he said.
One new addition is Freshman guard Kali Haizlip from Puyallup, Washington. Hoping to help her roster, Haizlip says the team is eager to get the season rolling.
“I just think that we’re really really excited to play other people. We’ve been playing each other for the last two months and so we’re just excited to execute what we’ve been working on in practice,” she said.
Opening a season ranked can put pressure on a almost new roster but the golden eagles know they are still on of the favorites to make it to the national stage once again. Rogers says there is only one goal in mind when it comes to this season and its to win it all.
“Our goal is to win games and get to the national tournament. We’re not trying to win region championships or anything. We’re trying to get to the national tournament to put our kids on a national stage,” Rogers said.
"A high preseason ranking means everybody circles you and so we just want to keep that same intensity throughout the entire year,” said Haizlip.
For season schedule, click here.
