COLUMBIA, S.C. – The defending SIAC women's basketball team, the Benedict College Lady Tigers, had really high expectations for the 2020-21 season. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and sports took a back seat. Benedict gets to take the court for the first time on Saturday at Miles College, but expectations remain high.

Saturday's game starts at 1 p.m. in Fairfield, Ala. (2 p.m. Eastern). Miles will not have live video, but will offer live stats here. The two teams will have a rematch on Sunday afternoon.

"I'm super excited about the season starting, but I think our young ladies are more excited than I am," said head coach James Rice.

The last time the Lady Tigers were on the court, 10 months ago, they were destroying Tuskegee in the SIAC championship game, cutting down nets and posing with the championship trophy. From that talented squad, Benedict brings back two-time SIAC Player of the Year Ay'Anna Bey and All-Tournament selection Wykira Johnson-Kelly. In fact, the Lady Tigers bring back all five primary starters from last season, as well as key reserves Ayanna Armstead and Shanaissa White.

"The experience we have coming back, if we had started the season on time, I think we'd probably be ranked top three in the country," Rice said. "Because of what's going on right now, we've got to see. But we do have a really good team, an experienced team, they already know the system."

Then Coach Rice was able to land a pair of impact transfers in Keondra Archie and Shantel Cheeks. Archie played at Paine last year, where she was the SIAC's seventh-leading scorer (14.8 points per game) and was named first-team All-SIAC. Cheeks was a part-time starter at Lincoln University (Pa.), where she averaged 5.7 points and 3.4 rebounds and was second on the team in blocked shots.

"Keondra Archie can play, I can tell you that right now," Rice said. "I didn't know she could do all that. She's been dominating playing out of position in our conference, but coming here she's going to play her natural position. She's a big guard, but she can play multiple positions on offense and she can defend. I think she's really comfortable at the guard position and we're going to let her go. She can move, handle the ball and get to the basket, and she can shoot it."

Rice said Cheeks is also a good addition to an already talented team.

"She's super athletic. She's got a nice stroke and can shoot it. She can bring something to the table as well. We already had some really good players on our team. We've got Wykira. Wykira is pretty good. Armstead used to be a first-team all-conference and she hasn't lost a step. We've got a pretty good team and hopefully we can get through the season healthy and make a run at it."

The Lady Tigers had a short window of preseason conditioning in the fall, and just two weeks of practice before the semester ended on Oct. 30, and the students returned home for two months. When they returned for the spring semester, the original plan was for the basketball season to start on March 1. Then last week, the plans changed again, and Benedict was able to put together a 14-game schedule over the next four weeks. The Lady Tigers would need to play at least 11 games to be considered for selection into the NCAA Division II tournament.

Getting the team in game-shape has been the biggest hurdle for the coaching staff, especially since Coach Rice wants his team playing at a fast tempo and hustling on defense.

"It's been a struggle," Rice said. "We can't just throw the young ladies out there and go out there and go at 100. You've got to ease them into it so you don't have any injuries. Right now, we're still in preseason."

Rice isn't trying to make excuses. He still thinks the Lady Tigers have the talent to challenge for a national championship.

"Expectations are still the same. That's not going to change," Rice said. "They understand the kind of program we have here. They know what they came here for, to be students first and athletes second. As far as competing, expectations don't change. We're trying to be the last team playing."