HANCEVILLE — Injuries and the flu have prohibited Wallace State-Hanceville’s women’s basketball team from finding its identity in preseason practices.

The Lady Lions will learn more beginning Friday in their season debut at Columbia State in Gallatin, Tenn. Wallace State opens the season with five consecutive road games before its home opener Nov. 21 against L.B. Wallace.

Wallace State will initially rely on the sophomore trio of Elkmont High product Jamie Lack, Kristian Moody and Julia Tupper to provide guidance and help mold a strong core of freshmen before conference play begins in January.

“We’ve had our share of injuries and girls with the flu before we even start, but we’re going to learn more about ourselves during the first two months of the season,” said Wallace State coach Larry Slater, who’s entering his 21st season with the school. “I guess we are cautiously optimistic. We have played well against some tough teams in scrimmages and we’ve got strong sophomores and talented freshmen. Once we get past these injuries, everybody will know a little better what we’ve got.”

 Wallace State’s three sophomores are all returning starters.

Lack, a 6-foot-3 center, returns as the top post presence for the Lady Lions. She was third leading scorer (11.3 points per game) on last year’s team and the second leading rebounder (6.6). Tupper, a sophomore out of Phoenix, N.Y., returns at small forward as Wallace State’s leading 3-point threat from last season. She averaged 6.6 points and four rebounds per game. Moody, of Gardendale High, will start at shooting guard after averaging nearly four points a game last season.

Newcomers to Wallace State are freshmen Bailey Robinson of Elkmont High, NaKeesha Wise of Rome, Ga., Bernisha Harris of R.A Hubbard, Natalie Kelly of St. Bernard, Alicia Coleman of Florence, Jennifer Cooper of Cullman, Morgan Duncan of Red Bay, Lauren Grisham of Dade Co. (Ga.), LaShenna Nation of Hanceville and Sandra Sturdivant of Shades Valley.

The Lady Lions have already lost impact freshman TaCoya Allen to a season-ending knee injury. Allen was a Class 5A All-State player at Anniston High School last season.

“Losing TaCoya was a devastating injury before we started. She’s an excellent player and we were counting on her,” Slater said. “We’ll be all right though. We have a lot of freshmen who have stepped up and filled some key spots.”