Jan. 12, 2006

Baton Rouge, LA -- The Southern University Lady Jaguars softball team started practice for the 2006 season. They will go into the year defending their 2005 Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division championship in which they have held for two straight years.

"We are preparing for the season by doing the pelimanaries," said head coach Nancy Marshall. "We have a young team; the freshman will provide a solid support while the returnees will come in and repeat what they did last year."

Southern finished the 2006 season 31-12 and advanced to their second straight SWAC softball tournament championship game. But just as the 2004 season had ended so did 2005 with the Blue and Gold losing to Mississippi Valley State University 0-4 and 3-5.

"Jamila Taylor is one of the returnees who will look to have a great season as she did last year," Marshall said. "We are looking for veterans like Candice Stevens and Jayme Roberts to have good years hitting. Our theme this year is unfinished business and the third time is the charm."

Returnees looking forward to the 2006 season are First-Team All-SWAC selections Jamila Taylor, Samisha Bledsoe and Brittany Richardson. Taylor finished the season with a 12-2 record and a 2.16 era, which placed her first on the team and in the SWAC. Bledsoe finished the year with an 8-3 record and a 2.43 era. The era placed her second on the team and in the SWAC. Richardson completed her freshman year with a .362 batting average which placed her ninth in the SWAC and fourth among the Lady Jaguars. Second-Team selection Brittany Jefferson will also be returning to continue her center field heroics. Jefferson finished the year with a .354 batting average. Rounding out the veterans are Jayme Roberts, Candice Stevens, who finished the year first in the SWAC in runs batted in with 39 and her batting average of .427. She also was second in homeruns with seven and third in total bases with 79. Courtney Chappell, Tiffany Darville, Mikaela Epps and Alana Ledet, return for their sophomore year while Tiffany Linder rounds out the veterans. The nucleus that returns amounts to 183 of the 287 runs that the Lady Jaguars scored last year. They also bring back 20 of the 26 homeruns and 253 hits out of the 337 that were hit during the 2005 season.