The Gore Lady Pirates will be in a new era as the Nicole Goodman era got underway with their road Riverside Conference game Tuesday night at Gans.

Goodman is inheriting a Lady Pirates team that went 8-13 last season and lost their lone playoff game, a 42-39 loss to Davenport in the Class A District Tournament.

The Lady Pirates are returning five players who saw lots of playing time a season ago, with three of them seniors — center/forward Kennedy Williams (11 points per game last season and averaged a double-double in the 2024-25 campaign) and guards Rayleigh Moore (6.2 points) and Emily Daily (7.2 points). Another senior expected to make a contribution is guard Gracie Bruce.

Two other key returners back for the Lady Pirates are junior center/forward River Shoemake and forward Sophie O’Connor.

Three freshmen, center Alevia Reasnor and forwards/guards Kylie “K.J.” McEver and Camdyn Dotson are expected to make contributions.

“The season seems to be strong,” Goodson said. “This summer showed us a lot of good things and also our areas for improvement. The girls are tight-knit and have excellent court chemistry.

Goodson said the team’s two big strengths are rebounding and finishing at the rim on shot attempts on offense, but she said 3-point shooting is an area of concern — at least early on this season.