Lady Bearcats season not a waste after all
With new confidence team has high hopes for future
Andre Lockett, Staff Writer, The Rustorian
Issue date: 2/28/09 Section: Sports
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The NCAA tournament has eluded the team now for over two decades since the team won the NCAA Division III Championship back in 1983.
The Bearcats this year fell just a few games short of achieving that goal. They wrapped up the season at 5-17, but for sub par play with other independent schools they came up short of making it into the tournament.
According to head coach Troy Howell, "This team I had this year played with heart and desire and that put us in place to win a lot of ball games. We fell short a number of times this year by only a few points, with a few corrections and recruiting we should have a pretty good year next season."
While the team had on roster 10 players for the just concluded season, they will be missing two key players for next season, seniors Latonya Randle and Katrina Overby who graduate in April.
Overby, the team captain wished the season outcome was different. "I feel that we could have fought harder to win those games that we only lost by 2 and 3 points," said Overby, a graduating senior in mass communications. "I am really going to miss playing and being around my teammates but I know they have the right combination to do great things next year," she added.
Similarly for Randle, "It was a great ride and I am truly going to miss my coach and teammates but I definitely smell success in this team's future.
Howell said, "My seniors this year gave me the type of leadership we needed to develop our younger players and I greatly appreciate their dedication and hard work." Overby, a 5'7 forward from Indianapolis, Ind., gave the Bearcats balance scoring from her ability to post up as well as draw the defense out on the perimeter with her capability of knocking down an outside shot. Randle, a 5'9 center from WestPoint, Miss., on the other hand gave Bearcats the type of physical presence they needed down in the post area.
Howell mentioned that despite only five wins from their season they did however grasp the confidence to know they can win games, and capable of going atop the tournament. It is just a matter of execution towards the closing of games to come away with victories, he said.
Howell will need to come up with a way to replace Randle's fierce post presence and Overby's scoring.
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