The John Jay women's basketball team enters the 2012-13 season with much optimism. With four extremely talented returnees, along with arguably the best recruiting class in head coach Diane Ramirez' five years, the Bloodhounds are poised for a charge to the top of the City University of New York Athletic Conference standings.
 
This season the Bloodhounds welcome back its all-conference player from last season, Jamecia Forsythe. Last season, Forsythe had a breakout season. After narrowly losing out on the CUNYAC Rookie of the Year running two years ago, the 5-11 James Madison High School graduate earned conference second team honors after averaging a team co-high 13.1 points and  a John Jay best in rebounding with 10.6 and blocks with 54. She was one of only two players in CUNYAC last season to average a double-double.
 
Another major returnee is Tyana Hale. Very versatile, the athletic Hale had a fantastic first year for John Jay in 2011-12. She, like Forsythe, averaged 13.1 points per game and had a team-leading 35 steals. She grabbed 5.0 rebounds per game and shot a team best 70.7 percent (70-for-99) from the free throw line.
 
Also back this season is Danielle Eagan. The veteran transfer came to John Jay and provided instant dividends for the squad. The 5-5 sharpshooter was electric from long range last season, connecting on 38 three point field goals overall knocking them down at a 35.2 percent clip (38-for-108). She averaged 8.8 points and offered a team-high 3.1 assists.
 
Another highly skilled player back this season is Aneska Tejada. Primordially coming off the bench last season, the tough as nails Tejada averaged 5.8 points per game and earned 4.1 rebounds.
 
While the returnees are highly skilled, the Bloodhounds welcome in a band of extremely talented newcomers, including a couple of top shelf transfers including Victoria Story, Latasha Harris, Kaitlin Fitzgerald and Simone Victor.
 
Also new to the team this year are first year players Alexia Benjamin (Port-Au-Prince, Haiti), Terri Chu (Rockaway, NY), Amber Villegas (Queens, NY), Sherrice Marshall (Mineola, NY) and Tyler Lloyd (Brooklyn, NY).
 
John Jay will face a fierce schedule this season, including a pair of games against each CUNYAC opponent. The Bloodhounds will also face stellar competition out of league including games against the College of New Rochelle, NYU Polytechnic, the College of Mount Saint Vincent, St. Joseph's-Long Island and Rutgers-Camden. John Jay will also compete in a pair of tournaments, including the Woodcliff and Spa Invitational hosted by St. John Fisher College (Nov. 24-25) and the Juniata College Annual Holiday Tournament (Dec. 28-29).