Craig Roden has been steering a ship that he’s tried to keep afloat through some treacherous waters to open the 2009-10 season.

And maneuvering through those first 10 games at 3-7, the University of West Georgia women’s basketball coach is hopeful that calmer seas are approaching.

As the Wolves prepare to play at Augusta State University today at 2 p.m., West Georgia finds itself up against a team teetering at 1-8 and having not played nearly as tough an early-season schedule as the Wolves.

UWG’s eight Division II opponents have a combined record of 47-15. And if you take Clark Atlanta’s 0-7 mark out of that equation, that’s 47-8.

“Which makes those other seven really impressive,” Roden said. “We just haven’t been ready for that type of competition with this young a team. We’re keeping our head above water. We’ve got to keep getting better and stay the course until the tide turns.”

Roden hopes that begins today in Christenberry Fieldhouse against the first of a handful of opponents that don’t bear such a stout hardcourt résumé as previous foes thus far this year.

Following this weekend’s slate, UWG’s composite schedule will finally begin to balance out.

“So from this weekend on, instead of being 30 games over .500, they’re probably 20 games under .500. So the tide’s going to turn one of these days,” Roden said.

Still, there’s plenty of work for this young UWG team to encounter before seeing those more-desired results.

At practice on Wednesday afternoon, the Wolves were focusing on the basics, working on what Roden described as “little bitty breakdowns that we’re making.”

Roden said the Lady Jaguars, who have lost five straight, do three things really well: shoot from beyond the arc, post extremely hard and eat up the glass.

With the Lady Jags led on the perimeter by Eboni Davis (46 percent from 3-point range), Brittany Jarrard (35 percent) and Blaire Egardo (32 percent), defending the trey will be key today.

And while Roden noted that ASU’s post play is not great, he said it comes at you hard and physical.

“So if you’re not ready to battle, they get on you deep and they score,” Roden said.

Following today’s afternoon tussle in Augusta, the Wolves will welcome Southern Arkansas (4-3) and Arkansas-Monticello (3-5) to The Coliseum on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, and will then be off until New Year’s Day, when they travel to face Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State on back-to-back days in Arkadelphia, Ark., as part of the Gulf South Conference Crossover contests.

“We give them eight days off (after Sunday) and then we’ve got 13 games in the next 10 weeks,” Roden said. “We’ll get better and we’ll do some things.”