Todd Buchanan and Porsche Landry at Houston Cougars' 1st day of practice

POSTED: October 4, 2011 -- 5:09 p.m. CDT

Todd Buchanan and his Houston Cougars began the 2011-2012 season with the first day of practice. Eight new players on this year's squad make duplicating last year's success difficult but not impossible.

Coach Buchanan acknowledged replacing seniors Courtney Taylor, Brittany Mason, Brittney Scott, and Lesslee Mason will be difficult; however, Buchanan said of his new players, "We recruited them; so, we saw something that, obviously, would fit into our philosophy and what we want to do in the picture.

"Obviously, losing what we lost and trying to replace them with freshmen and a junior college kid is extremely challenging; but, we'll see how it goes."

Last season, in his first season as head coach of the Cougars, Buchanan helped guide the Cougars to a Conference USA regular season championship with a perfect 16-0 conference record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Buchanan added, "We're going to try to be the best we can be each and every day; and, take it one day at a time. We'll see what happens between now and March."

Porsche Landry, senior starting point for the Cougars, knows she has to continue her leadership role to help the new players adjust to college basketball; but, Landry also knows she'll need to be more of a scoring point guard for this year's team.

"I think I am (going to have score more)," said Landry. "But, that's something that I want to do."

Landry understands opponents will be gunning for the Cougars this season; but, she accepts the challenge and looks forward to the opportunity.

"It's going to be pretty tough," Landry admitted. "Because, there a lot of people after us this year; and, we don't have the same team that we had (last year). We'll probably be underestimated a little bit. It's going to be pretty tough; but, I think we're ready for the challenge."

The Cougars will tip-off the 2011-2012 season, November 11, with a home game versus New Mexico State. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

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