The women’s basketball officially closed the season with a loss to Lindenwood (50-54) in the 2019 MIAA Post Season Tournament on Friday, March 8 and a loss to Fort Hays State (65-74) in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Division II National Tournament Friday, March 15.
Head coach Amanda Davied believes the team fought hard against Lindenwood.
“Well I think the Lindenwood game…,” she said. “I thought we got off to a slow start, but the girls really battled back and competed really… hard to get back in the game at the end. We had a shot to compete for the win at the end and I just thought that was a really great job by the girls to battle back.”
According to Davied, the team’s defensive strategies gave them an edge.
“I really just think our girls competed as hard as they could, and we had some struggles getting the ball to go in the hole, scoring only 50 points, but I thought that our zone defense was really good,” Davied said. “I thought Athena Alvarado, the last quarter, she had a couple of offensive scores, some put backs, and scored 10 in that last quarter that really gave us a chance to get back in the game and that was really a great effort by her… but mostly it was our defense that gave us a chance, holding them to 54 points. We just needed to score two more times.”
Several players stood out to Davied at these matches.
“Athena Alvarado in the fourth quarter just did an outstanding job of just being resilient and getting some second chances,” Davied said. “I thought Tristan Gegg did an outstanding job in the national tournament game and also Maya Williams. They both really did some great scoring and also, I thought our whole team played an outstanding defensive game… just an outstanding effort.”
Davied is proud of all the team has accomplished this season and along with the effort they put in throughout the course of the season and in the national tournament.
“… To make it to the national tournament is a great testimony to this team and that they had a great season,” Davied said. “It is a great way to send off (the) seniors, Shelby Lopez and Morgan Brodie, and the dedication that they have had to the program. It also shows that with only two seniors (leaving) we have a great core coming back. I really think that the future is bright and that the girls did a great job this year of keeping our tradition alive and going to the national tournament. They really really competed extremely hard against the number three team in the nation, Fort Hays, and showing that they can compete with the best of them. I think we led a lot of that game and had it to just a couple points late in the game and it just shows what a great effort the girls put forth on the national level.”