PUEBLO, Colo. (November 7, 2019) – Tommie Johnson will make his Head Coaching debut for Colorado State University-Pueblo Women's Basketball during the 36th annual Al Kaly Shrine Classic. The Pack will tip off their season Friday Nov. 8 at 5:30 p.m. and also take the court Saturday Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m. Both games will be held in Massari Arena.

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Johnson's debut will be anything but easy as the Pack opens its season Friday against defending NCAA D-II National Champion Lubbock Christian University. The Pack will also face Texas A&M University-Commerce  Saturday.

Starting 5 – The Top 5 CSU-Pueblo storylines
1. Johnson will lead the Pack into his first game as Head Coach of the ThunderWolves and head coach of a college team. He comes to the Pack from the University of Denver where he worked under former Pack Head Coach Jim Turgeon. In two seasons with the Pioneers, Johnson led the Pioneers to a 34-28 record for a team that went 6-24 in the season before he arrived. Johnson also served as the Pack Men's Basketball Assistant Coach for eight seasons.

2. The Pack qualified for their 17th consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament last season as the fifth seed. The ThunderWolves went 16-13 with a 14-8 mark in RMAC games. The Pack has the longest active streak of RMAC Tournament appearances in the conference.

3. Khiya Adams (Sr., Falcon, Colo.) earned Second Team All-RMAC honors last season. This was Adams' first career All-RMAC nod. As a junior, Adams averaged 12.4 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game. Adams ranked second in the RMAC with a 51.0 field goal percentage.

4. JaNaiya Davis (So., Hewitt, Texas) will look to follow up her impressive freshman season. Davis scored 11.6 points per game as a freshman on her way to being named Honorable Mention All-RMAC. On Feb. 15, Davis earned the Pack's first triple-double in 30 years with 20 points, 11 assistants, and 10 rebounds.

5. The Pack led the RMAC last season with 4.72 blocks per game. Adams and Sydni Williams (So., Little Rock, Colo.) each averaged 1.0 blocks per game, sharing fifth place in the RMAC.

Adams, Davis, and Williams are the only returning starters for the Pack. Kansas Watts (So., Houston, Texas) returns after appearing in 27 of the Pack's 29 games last season, averaging 4.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a freshman.  Nicole Smith (Sr., Long Beach, Calif.) played in 23 games in her debut season with the Pack, scoring 1.2 points per game.

Jade Adams (Jr., Falcon, Colo.), Annabelle Brewer (Sr., Centennial, Colo.), Tajuana Perkins (Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Aubrey Robinson (Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) all return for the Pack. This quartet combined for 4.5 points per games.

CSU-Pueblo welcomes five newcomers. Danielle Craft, Hanna Diaz, Reilly Dunn, Jordyn Keck, and Harmony Pettis all join the Pack after successful junior college careers.

Scouting Lubbock Christian:
2018-19 Record: 32-5 (13-1 Heartland)
2018-19 Highlights: The Chaps won the D-II National Championship as the No. 3 seed in the South Central Region. They also won the Heartland Conference Regular Season and Tournament Championship.
Series History: The Chaps lead the all-time series 5-4. They won last year's meeting 78-74 in Lubbock.
Player to Watch: Maddi Chitsey. Chitsey earned All-Heartland Conference and All- South Central Region honors as a junior. She was also named All-NCAA Elite Eight Tournament Team and Heartland Conference Tournament MVP.

Scouting Texas A&M Commerce:
2018-19 Record: 20-11 (14-6 Lone Star Conference)
2018-19 Highlights: The Lions finished fifth in the Lone Star Regular Season standings. They advanced to the NCAA South Central Regional as the No. 7 seed where they were eliminated in the first round.
Series History: The Pack leads the all-time series 5-0. They knocked off the Lions last year77-68 in overtime. Williams had 25 points in the win.
Player to Watch: Chania Wright. Wright averaged 12.5 points per game as a sophomore. She was named Third Team All- Lone Star Conference.

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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Colorado State University – Pueblo competes in 22 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.