Tag: Jillian Flores

Women’s basketball begins 13th season under new regime

Hear from Head Coach Jillian Flores: https://youtu.be/aZZX4T6b6nAX4T6b6nA

The women’s basketball team embarked on its 13th season this past weekend. Jillian Flores begins her first year at the helm with second-year Assistant Coach Tommy Turgeon at her side.

Coaching staff

Flores previously worked as an assistant coach at Iowa Western College before joining the Saints. “Being a first-year head coach is challenging in a lot of ways,” Flores said. “The biggest reason why I wanted this job was because of the history of winning and strong tradition the team has.”

Turgeon returns for his second season as assistant coach. His first year included only six games due to a COVID-19 shortened season. Ryan Mata starts his first season as a student assistant, and former Saint Nileyah Vaughn begins her third year as a student assistant.

Nonconference schedule

(numbers after schools indicates series record)

The Saints’ first 10 games include seven opponents that are either ranked in the top 25 or received votes in the NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. OLLU’s first two games are on the road against No. 23-ranked Oklahoma City University (OCU) (3-6) on Oct. 29 and (RV) University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (1-0) on Oct 30. The first home game features Southwestern Assemblies of God University (9-1) on Nov. 6, a team the Saints have had continued success against throughout the years.

The Wayland Baptist Tournament takes place from Nov. 12-13, and the Saints face No. 21-ranked Loyola University (1-3) and No. 2-ranked Wayland Baptist University (4-5). The Saints head to Montana next for three games, including No. 6-ranked Carroll College (1-1) on Nov. 17, (RV) University of Providence (1-0) on Nov. 19 and Montana State University-Northern (0-1) on Nov. 20.

The Saints host the annual Halo Classic on Nov. 23-24 that will feature Culver-Stockton College (CSC), LSU-Alexandria (LSUA) and OCU. OLLU will play OCU on Nov. 23 and CSC (1-0) on Nov. 24. Next is an exhibition at NCAA D1 Stephen F. Austin University on Dec. 4 and prior to a long homestand, the Saints head north to play Texas Wesleyan University (6-2) on Dec. 8. The ensuing homestand includes games against Northern New Mexico College (1-0) on Dec. 11, Saint Ambrose University (1-0) on Dec. 20 and University of Mobile on Dec. 30.

Conference schedule

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) was split up into the east and west divisions after Louisiana College (LC) and Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) joined this season. The Saints will compete in the west division alongside Huston-Tillotson University (HTU), Paul Quinn College (PQC), University of the Southwest (USW), Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) and Wiley College (WC). OLLU plays west division opponents twice and east division opponents once.

The Saints face HTU (27-1) at home to start conference play on Dec. 18. They head to Louisiana shortly after to face RRAC newcomers LC on Jan. 6 and XULA (3-3) on Jan. 8.

OLLU hosts four conference games in nine days starting in mid-January. They play PQC (19-1) on Jan. 13, USW (21-1) on Jan. 15, Texas College (20-2) on Jan. 20 and Jarvis Christian College (22-3) on Jan. 22.

Following the homestand the Saints head out for a four-game road trip. The first stop is in Marshall, Texas, to face Wiley (20-5) on Jan. 27. The next three games include TAMUT (2-0) on Jan. 29, PQC on Feb. 3 and USW on Feb. 5.

The Saints battle a tough LSU-Shreveport (16-16) team on Feb. 10 at home next. LSU-Alexandria (11-1) arrives in San Antonio on Feb. 12, followed by WC on Feb. 17 and TAMUT on Feb. 19. The Saints finish the regular season with a road game against HTU on Feb. 22.

Returners

The sophomore returners include Felicity Aguilar (SO/San Antonio, Texas), Tea Lawson (SO/Corpus Christi, Texas) and Cormia Lewis (SO/Houston, Texas). Juniors include Ariel Leal (JR/Harlingen, Texas), Tiffany Lopez (JR/San Antonio, Texas), Angeline Sanchez (JR/Cibolo, Texas), Natalia Trevino (JR/Laredo, Texas) and Miranda Villegas (JR/Levelland, Texas). The senior leaders are Keviona Barber (SR/Chicago, Ill.), Gabrielle Guzman (SR/Moore, Okla.), Emiko Hemphill (SR/San Antonio, Texas) and Alexandra Strawhorn (SR/Kyneton, Australia). Sanchez led the Saints last season with 17.33 points per game. Trevino had a team-high 23 assists and Lopez totaled 41 rebounds.

Flores commented, “We will rely heavily on the upperclassmen. The core of the senior class will provide leadership and depth.”

Newcomers

The Saints welcome seven incoming freshmen and they are all Texas natives. The group includes Julissa Garza (FR/Brownsville, Texas), Haleen Harris (FR/Houston, Texas), Annesa Lopez (FR/Cibolo, Texas), Alanis Macias (FR/San Antonio, Texas), Sydney Portillo (FR/Harlingen, Texas), Lorena Ramirez (FR/Banquete, Texas) and Madelyn Soto (FR/San Antonio, Texas). The class is comprised of all guards, with Macias and Soto being local products. Junior transfers Wynter Taylor (JR/Cuero, Texas) and Makayla White (JR/Midwest City, Okla.) are expected to have an immediate impact.

Live-streaming

The Saints will live-stream all home games for the 2021-2022 season. Flores said, “Live-streaming makes the support easier. The fans feel like they are here in the gym. My family in the Midwest will be watching every game and supporting us.”

Live-streams can be found at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ollusaints/.

Fan expectations

Flores notes that she’s an intense coach with high standards. She said, “I’ll call out the difficult moments in practices, but we also give high praise.” The Saints are excited to welcome fans back in person and currently require masks and social distancing.

The admission price for games is $5 for adults, 12 years and older. Faculty, staff and students will receive free admission with their ID cards. The OLLU community will have the opportunity to join the OLLU Halo Club, which will include free admission to games, Saints gear, golf tournament admission and much more. Stay tuned for information that will be posted to the website and social media later this month.

OLLU selects Jillian Flores as new women’s basketball head coach

OLLU has announced the hiring of Jillian Flores as the new head coach for women’s basketball. Flores comes to OLLU after an assistant coach position at Iowa Western College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Athletic Director Shane Hurley commented, “We are excited to have Jillian Flores. Her experience in recruiting and coaching at a top two-year program will benefit the current and future players. That experience comes off a very high caliber as a former player and now coach. OLLU women’s basketball has consistently been performing in the national spotlight, and I look forward to seeing Coach Flores put her vision into motion at OLLU.”

While at Iowa Western, under Head Coach Lindsey Vande Hoef, Flores assisted the team in accumulating a 23-9 record, plus a Region XI Championship and a berth in the District K Championships in 2018-2019. Eleven players were named to the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) All-Academic Team, while six were honored with National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Academic recognition. Her teams had a 100-percent graduation rate.

In 2019-2020, the Reivers had an overall record of 19-10, and Flores guided several players to NJCAA All-American and ICCAC recognition. She helped moved seven players to four-year institutions and guided the team to a 100-percent graduation rate and a 3.42 GPA.

This past season, the team marked a 22-3 record, were Region XI Champions and Central District Champions and qualified for the national tournament. The team was 15th in the nation for assists per game, and several of her players were in the top five and top 10 in field-goal percentage. Two earned All-American status, and five were named to the All-Region Team. The team also had a 100-percent graduation rate and accumulated a 3.5 GPA.

Before her three years at Iowa Western, Flores was the assistant coach at NAIA’s Bellevue University in Bellevue, Neb. For two years, she was a coach at Peru State College in Peru, Neb. While at Peru, also an NAIA school, Flores implemented various fundraising endeavors and was responsible for budget tracking.

“It’s an honor to be named the next women’s basketball head coach at Our Lady of the Lake University. I am thrilled to be joining an institution with such a rich history and a women’s basketball program with a known tradition of winning. I am extremely grateful to Athletic Director Shane Hurley for his belief in me to lead this program forward and also grateful to follow in the footsteps of Coach Stacy Stephens.

“I am beyond excited to begin my career as a head coach at a Hispanic-serving Institute that is known for its strong community and ability to foster growth for its diverse student population,” Flores commented. “My Hispanic heritage is something I am extremely proud of, so to begin my career at OLLU is a dream come true.

“My philosophy as a coach is simple; I want my teams to compete and win at the highest level while also developing off the court and in the classroom. My goal is to win and to prepare our players for life. I bring a lot of passion to the gym every day, and I am excited to share that passion with the current women on our roster. These team members have already impressed me with their maturity and desire to get to work. I look forward to the year ahead with my Saints family!”

Flores received a Master of Science in Organizational Management from Chadron State College in Chadron, Neb., and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Criminology from Benedectine College in Atchison, Kan., where she played basketball and was a two-time scholar-athlete. She also received an Associate of Arts from Iowa Western. Flores played basketball there, was the team’s captain and twice earned Academic All-American, All-Regional Academic and Dean’s List honors. She recently married Jarrod Bennett, and the two will reside in San Antonio.

The Saints enter their 13th season in 2021-2022. They earned spots in the postseason every year except last year when the team opted out to compete in the postseason due to COVID-19 concerns. The women have captured seven regular-season titles in the Red River Athletic Conference, plus three tournament championships. The Saints have made nine trips to the NAIA National Championship Tournament, ending with four first-round and three Sweet 16 round finishes. The women made it all the way to the Fab Four round in 2018-2019 – marking the university’s best-ever finish for a team in history. In 2019-2020, after a 26-6 overall and 17-1 conference record, the Saints were on their way to the national tournament when COVID-19 precipitated its cancelation.

This upcoming season begins in Oklahoma in late October. The women play Southwestern Assemblies of God University on Nov. 6 for their first home game. Flores joins Assistant Coach Tommy Turgeon, who joined the team in August 2020.