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JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State will usher in the Annette Watts era on Sunday as the Gamecock women open the 2010-11 campaign against Stillman College at 2 p.m. at Pete Matthews Coliseum.

Watts, who took the reins of the program last May, enters her tenth season as a head coach on the collegiate level. She spent the last nine seasons at Davidson College, a member of the Southern Conference. At Davidson, she took the Wildcat program to new heights along with collecting 144 wins at the North Carolina-based school.

Watts inherits the nucleus of last season's squad that includes nine veteran players. Leading the Gamecock charge will be All-Ohio Valley Conference selection Brittany Wiley. The Carrollton, Ga.-native returns for her junior season after leading JSU in scoring last season, averaging 10.1 points per game. The versatile Wiley also pulled down a team-leading 5.6 rebounds in 2009-10. In Jax State's exhibition with Georgia Southwestern, she turned in a game-high 21 points and pulled down ten boards. Joining Wiley on the floor will be junior Destiny Lane and sophomore Danielle Vaughn. Lane gained valuable minutes last season as she saw action in every game. Vaughn, who led the OVC in field goal percentage as a freshman in 2009-10, ranked second on the squad in scoring at 8.4 points per contest. She accumulated 18 blocks in her rookie season as well. Watts will rely on a trio of seniors for leadership on and off the floor in guards Danielle Beneby and Zenobia Pitts along with forward Candice Carmine.

A trio of newcomers to the program will be vying for spots on the floor. Sophomore guard Amanda McCarthy, who joined the Gamecocks this season after one season at the University of New Orleans a year ago. The Boston, Mass.-floor general will be eligible to play this year after UNO dropped its athletic programs to the NCAA's Division III level. Jax State will also have the services of Brittany Manning, who sat out last season after playing two seasons at Alabama A&M. Watts brought in a pair of freshmen who come from tradition-rich high school programs. Guard Lakeria Crowder prepped at Overton High School in the Memphis, Tenn. area. She finished her prep career with a 107-22 mark over four seasons. Forward JaDechia Hill enrolled at JSU after completing her high school career at Villa Rica High School in Georgia. Hill has the ability to score and rebound as she turned in a 23 point, 23 rebound night as senior at VRHS.

Sunday's contest will be the fourth meeting all time between JSU and Stillman College on the hardwood. The Gamecocks own a 2-1 edge in the series that will be renewed for the first time since 1983-84. The Tigers of Stillman enter the year with a lot of momentum and a new coach. SC fell to Benedict in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship game last March to post a 15-15 overall mark. SC's first year coach, Cassandra Moorer, is no stranger to the Tuscaloosa area as she starred at the University of Alabama. She earned All-Southeastern Conference honors in 1984 and was tabbed the SEC Tournament's MVP that same season. Preseason SIAC prognostications have the Tigers finishing fifth in the league.

The season opener will be aired on WLSJ-FM – 91.9 with the Voice of the Gamecocks Mike Parris describing all the action. Live audio and live stats links will be available at www.JSUGamecockSports.com.