Lakers Tip Off 2022-23 Season At Oakland City

CHICAGO – The Roosevelt Lakers open the 2022-23 season with a road trip to Oakland City University on Thursday to tip off Deon Thomas' first year as head coach.

Thomas joined the team earlier this month as the new head coach and has jumped in headfirst to preparing the Lakers for the first games.  After facing the Mighty Oaks at 11 a.m. Central on Thursday, Roosevelt will face a stiff test in an exhibition matchup with Evansville University, a NCAA Division I program, on Saturday at 1 p.m.

"I'm excited for the season to get underway," Thomas said. "It's been a short turnaround for the team to get underway. We had 13 days to work on us and now we have to prepare for Oakland City and Evansville. I just hope to see improvement week by week as we get into conference play."

Junior guard Gabrielle Beggs returns for her third season with the Lakers after earning honorable mention honors from the CCAC last season. Beggs led the Lakers in scoring last season at 14.2 points per game, and also added a team-best 1.8 steals per game on defense.

Graduate student Amelia McNutt also returns for Roosevelt after starting all 26 games at guard for the Lakers last season. McNutt ranked second in scoring with 13.5 points per game, and is the leading returning rebounder with four boards per game in 2021-22.

"Amelia is a player teams are going to have to stop," Thomas said. "I thought she could have been all-conference last year and she's just continued to improve this offseason. She can easily score 15 points per game this year for us."

The Lakers are also going to be counting on two talented transfer who fit into Thomas' up-tempo style. Jayla Turchin arrived at Roosevelt from Lewis University where she averaged 3.6 points and 1.6 rebounds per game two years ago. The Evanston native has shown her elusiveness in practice this offseason, Thomas said while also complimenting her shooting.

Meghan Urbanski averaged five points per game last season at Rockhurst University, but shot nearly 35 percent from 3-point range. Her shooting is a key addition to the Lakers, who will look to spread the floor to get open looks for Urbanski.

Thomas also added a pair of impact freshmen to the roster with wing Kencia Levasseur and guard Taylor Treat. The coach said the four newcomers to the roster fit well with the concepts he is trying to implement since taking over the helm.

"We want to push the tempo and spread the floor," Thomas said. "We want to push the ball on both makes and misses to try and get the ball down the floor as fast as possible. From there, we're going to give our ladies the freedom to make basketball plays based on what they see from the defense."