Coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC Lady Lions set to open 2015-16 hoops campaign Monday at home

SCOOBA – Unlike a year ago when they began the campaign with a roster full of newcomers, the East Mississippi Community College Lady Lions will open the much-anticipated basketball season with a handful of familiar faces under the direction of 11^th-year head coach Sharon Thompson. 

Much of that preseason optimism centers around the return of all-state guard and former prep all-American Ki-Ki Patterson, as the Lady Lions prepare for Monday's (Nov. 2) season opener against Talladega College's junior varsity team.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus prior to the Lions' 7:30 p.m. season opener against Tennessee Prep Academy.

East Mississippi's opening week of play also finds the men's and women's teams heading to Meridian for a Thursday (Nov. 5) meeting with rival Meridian Community College.  Doubleheader hoops action is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. at MCC's Graham Gymnasium.

A former PARADE All-American at Columbus High School, Patterson averaged a team-best 14.0 points along with 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game for the 12-12 Lady Lions a year ago.  Selected to the 2014-15 MACJC All-State First Team, Patterson scored in double figures 17 times with eight outings of 20 or more points while also leading the EMCC women in free throw percentage (76.6%) and with 23 made 3-pointers.

The Lady Lions' other returning starter is Camry Jones, who averaged 9.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists an outing a year ago after becoming eligible for the spring semester out of Nettleton High School.

A 10-game starter for EMCC as a freshman from Tupelo High School, point guard Bre Jernigan averaged a team-most 2.8 assists along with 3.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game last season.

Returning backcourt performers T.J. Harper (Germantown HS) and Cam Campbell (Brandon HS) averaged 3.5 and 2.7 points, respectively, while combining for 55 assists and 33 steals between them as collegiate freshmen.

Expected to lead East Mississippi's eight-member newcomer class are 5-foot-11 freshman forward Quantesha Patterson, from reigning MHSAA Class 2A state champion East Webster High School, and Georgia native Tianna Germain by way of Kennesaw State University.  Patterson concluded her successful prep career by scoring 39 points to earn game MVP honors in the Lady Wolverines' 68-64 overtime win over West Tallahatchie in the championship contest.

Used sparingly as a freshman at Kennesaw State, Germain was named the 2013-14 Region 3-AAAA Player of the Year after helping lead South Effingham High School to the Class AAAA state semifinals by averaging 17.8 points and 3.9 assists per game as a prep senior.

Also transferring from Kennesaw State is swing player Coco Hobson, who averaged 16.0 points and 8.7 rebounds an outing a year ago for Brandon High School before signing with the KSU Owls.  Hobson is set to be eligible to play for the Lady Lions beginning with the spring semester.     

Floridian Chenya Sealey and Senatobia's Jessica Wilbourn have also transferred to the Scooba campus from Georgetown University and Three Rivers College, respectively. 

Also figuring to give the Lady Lions some needed backcourt depth will be Anissia May out of Jackson's Jim Hill High School, while frontcourt help is expected from fellow in-state freshman newcomers Kimmie Jackson (Forest HS) and Gabrielle Cole (Southeast Lauderdale HS).

Beginning her 11^th season as head coach of the EMCC Lady Lions with 120 career wins to her credit after previously serving as an assistant women's coach to Dale Peay on the Scooba campus, Thompson starred at Mississippi State University and was selected into the SEC Greats Program in 2005 for her playing contributions at the collegiate level.  The Geiger, Alabama native has guided East Mississippi to three MACJC North Division regular-season titles and an NJCAA Tournament appearance in 2009 after winning the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament championship.