You can forgive Aisha Turner for having a few butterflies during last Sunday’s game at Florida. It had been 21 months since the sophomore guard last put on a uniform and laced up her sneakers, at the end of her freshman season at Clemson University. She decided to transfer to Stetson late in 2013, and after sitting out the NCAA mandatory one-year period, the College Park, Ga. native finally became eligible to compete for the Hatters last Sunday.

Turner made her Stetson debut five minutes into the first half, and she knocked down a 3-pointer late in the period. It was her only points of the game as she saw 12 minutes of action.

“I was really nervous; my stomach was really turning,” Turner said. “When I got out there, I felt like I was a little rusty. I was excited, but I know I can play better than I did.”

The Hatters, who have been with just eight active players through the first two months of the season, will now have nine players available with the addition of Turner.

“Aisha adds some much needed depth that we have to have,” Stetson head coach Lynn Bria said. “Defensively, she is one of our best on-ball defenders. She guards extremely well.  I think she is still getting adjusted to the offense.  She just has to get into a flow and get more game experience. The more she plays, the better she is going to get.”

Stetson (7-3) will host the 27th annual Hatter Classic this weekend at the Edmunds Center. Stetson and Campbell (5-4) will tip-off at 1 p.m. Friday, and the Hatters will face Texas State (4-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app for mobile devices.

The Hatters will be looking for a much cleaner effort than Sunday’s 59-54 setback at Florida that saw the team commit 26 turnovers.

“We just have to a better job of taking care of the basketball,” Bria said. “We are never going to be a team that has zero turnovers, we just have to eliminate the unforced turnovers. We had a lot of those against Florida, and you just can’t afford to do that. We need to get better offensively, but our defense has been solid for us.”

Bria said several of those turnovers came during live ball situations, which became a point of emphasis during practice this week.

“Coach Bria has been making sure we do a better job rebounding and getting the outlet pass,” Turner said.  “We have been working on making better passes overall.”

Senior Jama Sharp is closing in on a major career milestone.  The senior guard enters the weekend needing just 30 points to become the 21st player in school history to register 1,000 career points.  She has scored in double figures in nine of the team’s 10 games this season.

The Hatter Classic will also feature games between Bethune-Cookman and Texas State at 3:15 p.m. Friday, and Bethune-Cookman vs. Campbell at 3:15 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets start at just $5 and can be purchased online or at the Edmunds Center box office.  Stetson faculty, staff, and students are free with a valid ID card.

In addition to the ESPN3 telecasts, fans can listen to both Stetson games on WSBB AM1230 New Smyrna Beach, AM1490 DeLand, online at myam1230.com, or via the WSBB app.  Live stats, the Stetson wiomen’s basketball twitter feed, and the HatCheck text messaging system will provide live updates as well.

Notes: Stetson is a perfect 8-0 in the last four Hatter Classics … The Hatters have won 21 straight non-conference home games … Stetson is 47-3 in its last 50 home games overall.

Check out all Hatter sports on GoHatters.com.