Osborne expecting a big year

By Dan Stillwell

While excitable on the basketball court, Kenny Osborne is usually low-key when it comes to discussing his program.

So when he calls the 2009-10 Concord University women the “most interesting team” he’s had in his nine years at the Mountain Lions’ helm, that’s quite a statement.

“This could be a special group,” he said. “For me to say that in November, it shows they’ve sold me.”

With season-opening victories over Milligan College (72-60) and Bluefield College (83-58) in the Lady Lion Classic earlier this week, the Mountain Lions could be well on their way to improving on last season’s 13-15 (11-9 West Virginia Conference) mark.

“We’ve got good post players who can score and the best perimeter shooting since I’ve been coach,” Osborne said. “In the past, we’ve had maybe one shooter. Now we have four or five who can knock down threes.”

The Mountain Lions return just one starter, senior Sierra Brown, but point guard Sarah Blevins, center Jolysa Brown, forward Meghan Cole and guard Holly Bibb saw action last season.

Blevins, a 5-foot-10 junior from Hinton, received a medical redshirt last season after suffering a fractured knee. She had seven assists in the win against Bluefield.

“She does a nice job running the offense and getting the ball to our scorers,” Osborne said.

Former Woodrow Wilson shooting guard Camisha Alexander transferred to Concord this season after playing a year at Youngstown State.

The former Flying Eagle all-stater and three-point threat scored 17 points in the win over Bluefield.

“Camisha’s stronger and her knowledge of the game has improved,” Osborne said. “She’s still got a ways to go on defense.”

Forward Sidney Lindsey, a 5-10 freshman from Narrows, Va., is another medical redshirt because of hip surgery last year.

A threat inside or outside, Lindsey scored 12 points against Bluefield. Osborne calls her “our best all-around athlete.”

Center-forward Sierra Brown averaged 16.5 points in the Mountain Lions’ first two contests.

At 5-10, she gives opposing defenses fits.

“Her first few years she was scoring (inside), but now she’s hitting 18-footers,” Osborne said. “She’s a matchup problem because other teams’ post players aren’t as mobile and have to chase her around the perimeter.”

She’s also the team leader.

“I told Sierra this is our team,” Osborne said. “She took us on her shoulders and led us through the preseason.”

Six-foot center Jolysa Brown, Sierra’s younger sister, earned freshman all-conference honors last year.

The 2008 West Virginia high school player of the year at Summers County scored 30 points and grabbed 25 rebounds in the Lady Lion Classic.

“Jolysa cleaned up all the rebounds, and she held Milligan’s All-American to 11 points,” Osborne said.

“She can be the most dominating post player in the league if she wants to be.”

Freshman forward-center Emily Blevins, Sarah’s sister and yet another former Summers County standout, scored nine points and had six points against Milligan.

“For a kid out of high school, I was really pleased with her performance,” Osborne said.

In addition to Blevins, other top reserves include Cole, another inside-outside threat from Clay County, Bibb, a shooting guard from Christiansburg, Va., and center Kristin Kidd, a transfer from North Carolina who sat out last season.

Trista Thomas, a freshman center from PikeView, will join the team in January. Princeton freshman Amanda Smith is practicing with the team but will not play until next season.

Senior Joanna Mills, another Summers County product, has elected to forego her final year of eligibility and concentrate on her studies.

Osborne likes the team’s strong start, but said more hard work lies ahead.

“Some days in practice we look like a million dollars. Other days we look like $100,” he said.

“We have to be consistent every day. If that happens, we can go a long way.”

Concord plays at 5:30 p.m. game today at Davis & Elkins.

— E-mail: dstillwell@

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