ANDERSON, S.C. -- One of the most anticipated seasons in the history of Anderson College women's basketball begins Friday, Nov. 5 when the Lady Trojans take on Peach Belt favorite Armstrong Atlantic in the first round of Disney's Tip-Off Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports. The Lady Trojans will play three games in three days at Disney. The winner of the 3:30 p.m. Anderson-Armstrong game will face the winner of the Bentley (Mass.)-Mesa State (Colo.) game Saturday at 6 p.m. The Anderson women had a breakout season in '03-04. The Lady Trojans won a school-record 25 games, won the CVAC Tournament, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. "Of course we're excited," said Anderson head coach Kevin Pederson, who is entering his fourth season. "We're coming off a year we were 25-7. We set the school record for wins. We ended the regular-season with 13 consecutive conference wins. We led the country in scoring. We had a freshman All-American. We return six of our top eight scorers and seven of our top eight rebounders. We've got a lot of stuff to be excited about. "We're coming into this season with a lot of momentum." Playing an up tempo, high-pressure style, the Lady Trojans topped 100 points four times and scored 90 or more points 12 times. They were 21-0 when they scored 80 or more points. For the season, they averaged 85 points per game. In CVAC play, they averaged 86.3 points per game. "We've got experience," Pederson said. "We return four of five starters and about 80 percent of our minutes played last year. I would look for us to be one of the quicker teams in the league and in the top three as far as athleticism." The four returning starters are sophomores LaShonda Chiles and Deidra Langston, and seniors Shemika Reed and Deanna Thompson. Chiles, a 5-foot-2 native of Greenwood, S.C., put together an amazing freshman season. She averaged 18.6 points per game and set the school record for points scored in a season (578). She was named to the All-CVAC team, the All-East Regional team, and the freshman All-American team. She also was voted MVP of the CVAC Tournament and was named Anderson College's athlete of the year. "It's difficult to explain the impact LaShonda made last season," Pederson said. "It was amazing. During the preseason, we nominated her for preseason All-CVAC and no one voted for her. We knew when she came in that she was a special player. She is focused, and she works hard. A lot of people overlook her because of her size, but she made a lot of believers out of people last year. "LaShonda is not going to get in your face and yell at you. She's just going to play hard every day. She's one of the most consistent players we've ever had on this team. She scores a lot of points, but we have to tell her to shoot the ball. She helps this team in so many ways - drive, ability to score inside and outside, rebound, penetrate and dish. She definitely sets the tone for us." Langston, a 5-10 native of Gainesville, Ga., averaged 11.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Reed tied for the team lead with 202 rebounds and led the team with 147 defensive rebounds. Thompson led the team in steals (67) and was second in assists (110). "I've heard a lot of coaches say they don't want to be picked No. 1 in the preseason poll and that they don't like hearing people say they're going to be good," Pederson said. 'That's all we've heard since the end of last season. The people at Cal (Pa.) told us how good we were going to be, how exciting we were to watch, and how young we were. I believe we had the youngest team in the NCAA Tournament last season." Also returning are sophomores 6-3 Kim Hausman (Watkinsville, Ga.), 6-2 Stephanie Ponds (Bethune, S.C.), and 6-1 Kimberly Williams (Chesnee, S.C.). Hausman, who had shoulder surgery during the off-season, was third on the team in 3-point goals made (48) last season. Ponds, who shot 58 percent from the field, provides inside power. Williams is a valuable role player who played in 20 games last season. Among the newcomers are a pair of talented guards - Mikala Fogle-Wilson (Columbia, S.C.) and Latrice Thomas (Graniteville, S.C.). "We want to get up and down the court, and we want to control the tempo of the game," Pederson said. "We feel good about the recruiting class. Mikala and Latrice will come in and make an immediate impact." In the front court, Pederson has added 6-2 Haley Riffle (Tybee Island, Ga.) and 5-8 Leanna Willis (Saluda, S.C.). "If we're healthy and we work hard, I believe it will be a good year," Pederson said. "I expect us to compete for the conference championship and we expect to work toward another NCAA berth. If we can exceed the things we can control - be in condition, work hard, fundamentals, we should be pretty good." But Pederson knows after last season, the Lady Trojans are no longer a secret. The region knows Anderson has a lot of firepower. "If the bull's eye is on our back, we're obviously in the right place," he said. "That's been our approach. We want people gunning for us. We want them coming to get us every game. If they're doing that, then we're obviously doing the right thing. You hope the bull's eye is still on your back come March." In two full seasons at Anderson, Pederson has directed the Lady Trojans to 42 victories. "I have never looked at our program as being ahead of schedule," he said. "We expected to be good from the start. I can't live with myself when we're losing. There was no game plan. The plan was just to go to work. We're established now. People locally and regionally know who we are now." The schedule is the most challenging in the history of the program. In addition to the trip to Disney, the Lady Trojans will play 20 CVAC games and face in-state rivals Coastal Carolina, Francis Marion, and Presbyterian. "I want us to have a top 25 program," Pederson said. "I want to go down to Disney and get it started right. We want to win the CVAC regular season. We expect to win the regular season, we expect to win the CVAC Tournament, we expect to go to the NCAA Tournament. Our goal is to make it to the Elite Eight."