End of the Season

It has been 3 weeks since the season has ended so I have had some time to reflect on this year's team and season. First, I want to congratulate our 3 seniors, Emily Culbertson, Tricia Fuller, and Alisha Rinehart. From a win - loss standpoint this season did not go the way they wanted but, they have been a big part in our program's turnaround and success over the past 3 years. Alisha broke the all time scoring record that has stood for 25 years, quite an accomplishment. She is also the all time leader for free throw %, free throws made and free throws attempted. Emily broke the all time records for career assists, steals and started every game of her career. All three have been an integral part of our program the past 4 years and we will certainly miss them!



As I think about this past season believe it or not I usually smile. It may seem crazy because we did not have the kind of season, from a record standpoint, we would have hoped for. I smile because I really enjoyed the players on the team. The newcomers really blended well with our returning players, attitudes were great for the most part and everyone tried to do what was asked of them. Don't get me wrong, things were difficult at times. We had 2 devastating injuries to Britt Bogart and Heather Armbruster. Two players who returned with some experience. We lost a lot of close games that could have gone our way and that was frustrating. The non-conference part of our schedule was really spent getting to know one another. We had a lot of close games that I really believe we would win if we played them later in the season. Our conference was extremely tough as usual. We started very strong winning our first 3 OAC games which included national power Baldwin Wallace. The girls really came together in this game and played good for 40 minutes. I think we opened a few eyes winning this game. In the middle of the conference season, just after Christmas we were lucky enough to participate in the Land of Magic Classic in Florida. This was an absolutely great tournament. We started out staying and playing in Daytona Beach. Our hotel was right on the beach and was beautiful. The temperature was 80 degrees everyday. Needless to say I wondered if I would be able to get the girls to think about playing basketball. To their credit we came out on day 1 of the tournament and beat a good Albion team out of the MIAA. It was a hard fought contest and I thought our team really matched their physical play and did a nice job of playing within our system. Unfortunately, we were not so lucky on day 2. Our shooting % vs. Clark (out of Mass.) was absolutely dismal. We were actually down 23 at half. I have to give our team credit however because we came all the way back to get the game within 2 in the second half with a chance to tie. Unfortunately we did not win but it took a lot of guts to come back the way we did.

The second part of the conference season was difficult. I thought the grind of the season was starting to wear on our freshmen. Again, we were in every game but could not seem to put 40 minutes together. I'm proud to say we were able to beat the top four teams in the OAC at least once. We had heartbreaking losses to Wilmington. The first time we played them we lost in overtime by 1 point and the second time we played them we lost in double overtime by 2.

Overall, I think the season was a great learning experience for our players and our coaching staff. Hopefully, we can take the experiences our young players received and turn our win loss record around next season. With hard work, new additions, and players who are healthy the future looks very bright! I'm excited to see how much we can improve.