(Rolla, Mo.) – Missouri S&T women’s basketball coach Alan Eads has announced the signing of two more players to national letters of intent to play for the Lady Miners in the 2009-10 season.
The newcomers are Brittney Newcomb, a 5-6 guard from South Medford High School in Medford, Ore.; and Fareedah Washington, a 5-11 forward from Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo. With the addition of Newcomb and Washington the Lady Miners now have six signed for the upcoming season.
Newcomb was the Player of the Year in the Southwest Conference this past season and led the Panthers to the state playoffs for the first time since 2002. She led South Medford in scoring with 19 points per game and was the third leading scorer in the state. Newcomb also averaged six assists, five steals and four rebounds per game. She was a two-time first-team SWC selection at South Medford and was a first team Southern Sky Conference selection as a sophomore at Crater High School. Newcomb was also named to the Class 6A All-State Second Team and was a McDonald’s All-American nominee.
“Brittney is a 1-2 combo guard that handles the ball extremely well and is a great passer that sees the floor really well,” Eads said. “She shoots the three pretty good and can put it on the floor and beat people off the dribble. She’s a pretty quick young lady that’s very athletic and loves to play the game. I think she will fit in with our style of play that we like and will probably challenge for some time at the point guard this year as well as the shooting guard. We are really looking forward to her addition and we think she’ll fit in nicely with the other freshmen that we have.”
Washington, who is originally from Forrest City, Arkansas, averaged 14.6 points and 7.6 rebounds a game and shot 55 percent (145-of-265) from the field last season. She was an all-region and All-Midwest Community College Athletic Conference selection for the Lady Riders who went 19-11. As a freshman Washington averaged 7.9 ppg, 6.1 rbg and connected on 90-of-178 (51 percent) from the floor.
Washington was an all-conference selection at Forrest City High School for head coach Jacky England.
“Fareedah is a power forward type kid that’s from the same home town as (former Lady Miner) Deosha Agnew,” he said. “She’s a left-hander that pretty much played inside at Three Rivers this year out of necessity but she can step out and play on the perimeter which is probably where we’ll have her play the most. She’ll be a forward-center type player for us that has a very nice shot, can play inside, has some inside moves and is very deadly with the left hand in the paint. She’s a good solid, strong kid that can rebound, defend in the paint and score for us. We are looking forward to here being able to step in and play right away and help us at the four and the five spots.”
The Lady Miners finished the 2008-09 campaign with a 16-13 record and advanced to the semi-finals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament for the third time in four seasons.