LANGLEY, British Columbia – This year, the Spartans women's basketball program is looking to break through and take that next step forward. With a burgeoning core of young stars, Trinity Western looks like a team on the rise and one set to make a push up the standings.

With the graduation of Chantelle Martin and Laurissa Weigl, the wave of "on-the-cusp stars" will take to the floor all by themselves. Now, the question this season is twofold: How far has this group come and is this the year TWU breaks out and starts climbing the Canada West ladder?

2015 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SEASON PREVIEW
 
2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 4-16
2014-15 CW Playoff Record: NA
2014-15 Overall Record: 4-16
 
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: NA/0
Last CIS Title/Total CIS Titles: NA/0
 
Number of New Players: 6
Key Recruits: Ashleigh Barnes (F/Oceanside, CA/Guajoe Park Academy), Breanna Cabuco (G/Coquitlam, BC/Charles Best), Alicia Unruh (G/Abbotsford, B.C./WJ Mouat)
 
Number of departing players: 5
Key Losses: Chantelle Martin (G/4), Laurissa Weigl (F/4)
 
Key Performer
Jessie Brown
The Spartans second-year guard led TWU with 12.6 points per game in her rookie season and over the final 10 games of the season averaged nearly 28 minutes per game. When Brown is on, she can shoot the ball from 3-point range as well as anyone in the conference – in her final four regular season games last year, she shot 51.5 per cent from long range. Now in her second year, look for her to build upon her successful rookie campaign and once again help lead the TWU offence.
 
Coach Quote
"I think for us, we want to be mentally tougher than we were last year, we want to be better defensively and we want to grow our offensive game," said Spartans coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. "That has been our focus all off-season and we've definitely seen some signs of growth in our preseason. But as we head into the regular season, we were literally focusing on just one game at a time. It sounds cliché, but that's what we have to do to be successful. It's not just about showing up and winning a game. It's really about putting yourself in a position to be competitive every time you go out on the floor."
 
Season Storyline
This year, the Spartans are hoping to look a little bit different. The theme of the season is "break through" and the Jean-Paul-coached side has its sights set making a developmental move forward. The team has the potential to be competitive night in and night out. With fourth-year guard Luca Schmidt running the offence and up-and-coming stars like third-year Kayla Gordon and second-year players Tessa Ratzlaff and Brown along with veteran forward Kristin Ford, the Spartans are unquestionably a team on the rise. The keys to the car have officially been handed over to the next generation. Now, it's time for them to take it for a spin.

-TW-