OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 10, 2020) – During Oklahoma Christian's first basketball season in the Lone Star Conference, coach Stephanie Findley learned the Lady Eagles needed to adapt to a more physical style of hoops if they wanted to be competitive. She had that in mind as she recruited for the 2020-21 season.

She signed a couple of 6-foot-3 post players along with several versatile, long, tough athletes who could cover multiple positions. Combined with what OC had returning, the potential for this new version of the Lady Eagles was intriguing. Then the injury bug hit Findley's squad – much harder than it has in many a season.

When OC takes the floor for its pandemic-delayed season opener on Friday at Texas A&M International, the Lady Eagles will have only nine available players. Five others are probably out for the season and still another will be out at least for the first few weeks. It's not an ideal situation, but Findley – entering her 36th season at the OC helm – has seen enough during her coaching career to know how to adapt to almost any circumstance.

The keys for OC this season will be togetherness – "When you only have nine, everyone is a key rotation player," Findley said – and simplicity, as most everyone will have multiple responsibilities.

"I've always run my stuff and I'm trying to fight that urge and simplify so that we can run a lot of different people in different spots and they don't have to remember as much stuff," Findley said. "That's one thing I've done to adjust, because it's been weird – besides it being 2020, it's just been a weird off-season for us. We just don't have many bodies to work with … hopefully less is more."

Thankfully, the Lady Eagles' core group of seniors – forward Katie Mayo (11.6 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game in 2019-20) and guards Maddison Collyer Ingraham (10.9 ppg, a league-leading 5.1 assists per game) and Tyra Peck (7.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg) – have avoided serious injuries. All three will be leaned on for their experience, while Peck has taken on extra duties as a secondary point guard, to take some of the load off of Ingraham, who (like Mayo) earned honorable mention on last season's All-LSC list.

"I'm hopeful that will make (Peck) even a bigger threat," Findley said. "She's a great passer and she'll be able to use those skills in the point guard position.

"There is no substitute for senior experience. They will be asked to carry a big load just as they were asked to do so last year. They are all three dealing with their own nagging injuries, but I am confident they can play through those."

Four other players back from last season's squad figure to see increased responsibility. A pair of 6-foot-1 players, junior center Kendall Blackburn (7.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg) and sophomore forward Emma Epperly (1.9 ppg, 1.4 rpg), will play big roles inside, going up against the tall, strong frontlines in the LSC. Amaya Buchanan, a 6-foot forward who saw action in only 11 games last season, has been a pleasant preseason surprise and will be counted on, especially for her knack for offensive rebounding.

"Kendall and Emma are two of our most physical players and they were figuring it out last year, too, that that was going to be at a premium in this conference," Findley said. "Their experience will help a lot. Amaya is the one that has come back and shown us the most in preseason. She did a good job in the summer keeping herself fit and she came in ready to go. She has put a lot of effort into making herself better. She is probably our best offensive rebounder. She knows where the ball is going to be and goes and gets it."

Junior guard Kendra Levings – who led the team last season with 36 3-pointers – is perhaps OC's top deep shooting threat. Findley would like to see Levings (5.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg) remember to "shoot when she's open. Kendra is a good 3-point shooter and we want her taking those shots."

Among the team's eight newcomers, Findley is particularly excited about freshman guard Brooklin Bain. The daughter of former OC All-American Misti Mitchell (who also played for Findley), Bain will play both basketball and softball at OC.

"She has come in and hit the ground running," Findley said. "She's tenacious on defense. She doesn't want to lose when we're running sprints. She wants to be the winner every time. Her work ethic has just been outstanding. She will be a force to be reckoned with."

Another newcomer with strong basketball bloodlines is freshman forward Atlanta Hopgood, whose father Brian Hopgood was a NAIA All-America center at Oklahoma City University in the mid-1990s.

"Brooklin and Atlanta are the only newcomers who are healthy," Findley said. "They will both help in the physical aspect, as they are both strong and physical-type players. Brooklin can score with anybody and has looked great in preseason practice. Atlanta can defend anyone so they will both be counted on to give us some much-needed minutes."

Findley hopes that 6-foot-3 forward Antonia Kovacevic, a junior-college transfer from Frank Phillips (Texas), will be able to contribute in about a month.

"I think Antonia could be a really good shot blocker for us," Findley said. "She runs the floor so well and then she's got 6-3 size. We would love to get her back."

Findley said those players who probably will miss the season include junior center Lia Mikiashvili, freshman guards Kayton Kite and Hope Fletcher and junior guards Erica James and Ali Christie. All but Christie – who also sat out last season but is attempting a comeback – are new to the program.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, OC's schedule will have a different look, too, as the Lady Eagles are scheduled to play each of their 11 opponents in consecutive games, usually either on Thursday and Saturday or Friday and Saturday. The LSC postseason tournament has been reduced to eight teams (from 12) and qualifiers will be determined using a complicated point system similar to the old Sempert Ratings used in the 1980s and early 1990s to determine postseason pairings in NAIA District 9.