Doubleheader kicks off the hoops season at SECU

By Jordan Tacey
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer

In recent months, SECU Arena has hosted graduations, career fairs and other university events. But starting Tuesday, basketball is back in a big way.

The 2019-2020 season begins with a doubleheader that begins with the women’s basketball game against Penn State (4 p.m.) and ends with the men’s basketball game against George Washington (7 p.m.)

Last year, the women’s team went 20-13 with a record of 11-7 in conference. Towson made history by winning 20 games, capturing the Colonial Athletic Association championship and going to its first-ever NCAA Tournament.

Many are expecting another breakout season. However, Towson expects other teams to come ready to knock them off.

“I’m more concerned about us and stepping up our game,” coach Diane Richardson said. “We were champions last year, but we’re going to have a target on our back. We’ve got to just worry about us getting better and making each other great.”

Towson’s season opener against Penn State will be an early test. The teams previously played in 2014, with Penn State winning 71-64. This year the team is excited for the challenge.

“We’ve got to play the best to be the best,” Richardson said. “I want us to be challenged so that when we get to the conference play, we’ll be used to it already, because we’ve got a challenging conference. Starting out with Penn State is going to be tough. It’ll show us where we are at that point.”

The men’s basketball team had less success a year ago. The team went 10-22 with a record of 6-12 in conference. “We did not have the type of year we are accustomed to having last year,” said coach Pat Skerry. “ We lost a lot of close games.”

Skerry said the team is motivated to improve.

“These guys work as hard as any group we’ve had since I’ve been here. They have been motivated that way,” Skerry said. “There have been very little distractions. Very little drama. These guys are a likeable group. I’m not really upset at them a lot because they do the right thing.” 

Towson rarely opens the season at home. Skerry said he expects the energy from the home crowd to “give [his team] juice.”

“We are being thrown into the deep end by starting off playing George Washington, we are not wading in into the water, we are jumping in,” Skerry said.