North Florida women's basketball: Five takes on the first season under coach Erika Lambert

Erika Lambert didn’t sugarcoat anything.

“We want to put our players in a position to finish in the top three of the ASUN every year … we’ve got a lot of ground to cover and a lot of work to do to get there,” said the first-year University of North Florida women’s basketball coach on Nov. 2 during UNF’s Basketball Media Day at the UNF Arena Bank of England Suite.

The Ospreys are coming off a 7-20 season (4-13 in the ASUN) and were 20-37 in the last two years. UNF parted ways with coach Darrick Gibbs and turned to Lambert, who was the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for seven years at Abilene Christian. ACU won three Southland Conference regular-season titles and one tournament title.

UNF men's basketball: Five takes on what looks to be a rebuilding season for the Ospreys

She did have some optimistic news: players are buying into her vision for the future. The Ospreys avoided the turmoil that has plagued many teams that have changed coaches during the transfer portal era of college sports and seven players returned from last year’s team, led by graduate student and 6-foot-3 center Emma Broermann (7.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, 50.6 shooting percentage last season) and senior guard Lyric Swann (the team’s scoring leader with 14.2 per game) and junior guard Kayla Rougier (9.3 points, 3.2 assists per game).

“There’s often a mass exodus when there’s a coaching change,” Lambert said. “I think [the players staying] says a lot about the University of North Florida and the athletic department as a whole. The kids love their school. It speaks to the family atmosphere.”

Broermann said she considered transferring, perhaps to a school in her home state of Ohio. But athletic director Nick Morrow kept her up to date with the coaching search and urged her to give Lambert a chance.

“He really made me feel comfortable in the person he was choosing,” Broermann said. “If I went somewhere else, I would have a whole new experience. But if I stayed here, I knew I would have that academic and athletic support from the school. Staying here was the best choice I could have made.”

Swann said there was a trust element involved.

“I felt like the administration really showed they cared about us,” said Swann, who is from Maryland. “And Coach Erika has demonstrated that on and off the course. That’s one reason why I wanted to call this place home for my last year of eligibility.

Here are five takes on UNF’s season:

Expect a strong inside-out game

Lambert, who still holds the career blocked shots record at the College of Charleston, likes to tell the story of a summer workout when she joined some of the players in a pickup game.

“I played post defense [against Broermann] and she came across the lane one time,” Lambert said. “I knew I was done with that and would not be defending her anymore. I hope our opponents feel the same way.”

Broermann, who will break the school record for games played if she gets in 23 this season, has started her last 61 games for the Ospreys and has been a force inside on offense, defense and rebounding.

Swann and Rougier are dangerous in the open court and from beyond the 3-point line.

Lambert said her goal is to average 75 points per game. The Ospreys scored 59.7 last season. Broermann, Swann and Rougier will be the key players in making up that 16-point gap.

Jayla Adams has found a home

One of the most intriguing players on this year’s team will be graduate senior guard Jayla Adams, a Spruce Creek graduate who will be playing at her fourth college.

Adams began at Florida Atlantic in 2018-19, averaging 4.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. She transferred to Bethune-Cookman but the old transfer rules were still in effect and she had to sit out one year. The MEAC canceled all athletics for 2020-21 because of the pandemic and Adams transferred to George Mason.

She led the team with 3.5 assists per game in 2021-22 but sat out last season and got her undergraduate degree in athletic administration. Adams is back on a basketball court and Lambert expects her to make a big contribution at point guard with her experience and open-court skills.

Adams doesn’t lack confidence.

“Coach Erika was one of the few coaches who gave me an opportunity to come back and play the game I love,” Adams said. “She’s trying to bring the program up and I feel like I’m the perfect point guard to help her do that because I’m making my teammates better. I feel like I have the character to help lead the program in the direction she wants.”

UNF’s international blend

The Ospreys already had one player from Iceland, sophomore guard Helena Rafnsdottir, who played in all 27 games last season and averaged 2.6 points and 3.5 rebounds.

Lambert came up with another native of Iceland, guard Agnes Svansdottir, who averaged 10.1 points for her country’s 20 and under team in the European Championships.

Also returning is sophomore guard Selma Eklund of Sweden, who played 23 games for the Ospreys last season after transferring from UNC-Wilmington.

Other newcomers to watch

Guard Tyra Brown (6-2) averaged 14.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game last year for Fort Myers High School, and was ranked No. 46 in the state by Prep Girls Hoops. Her cousin, Jermaine Taylor, was one of the top players at UNC, averaging 16.0 points for his four-year career and then 5.4 points in parts of three NBA seasons with Houston and Sacramento. … Lambert gushes over the outside shooting ability of freshman guard Alexa Washington from Monroeville, Pa., a three-time first-team all-conference player in high school. … Kristen Clark of Indianapolis, a 5-9 forward, could provide depth on the frontcourt.

UNF opens against Florida Gators

The Ospreys open the season on Nov. 6 at Florida (5:30 p.m.) and played their home opener on Nov. 9 against Trinity Baptist (11 a.m.).

After facing Florida Atlantic at home on Nov. 13, UNF goes on a four-game road trip that includes games at Gonzaga and South Florida. The Ospreys have December dates at St. Joseph’s, Coppin State and Kansas State and then play four home games in a row: the final two non-conference games against Winthrop (Dec. 20) and Florida A&M (Dec. 29) and the first two games of the ASUN schedule against Stetson (Jan. 4) and Florida Gulf Coast (Jan. 6).

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Five takes on UNF women's basketball: New coach banks on key returnees