After losing to SUNY Geneseo and The College at Brockport on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25, the Women’s Basketball team now has an overall record of 3-14.
Head Coach Jamie Seward said the team’s mindset hasn’t changed even though their record isn’t what they expected it to be going into the season.
“We’ve just been trying to establish a competitive culture with a young team and are trying to get better everyday,” Seward said.
Despite losing 10 of their last 11 games, third-year Captain Shannan Walker said she still sees that the team has a positive attitude and is continuing to work hard in order to improve.
Seward said the team’s lone win during that stretch, a 68-62 win over SUNY Oswego on Jan. 21 was a nice result for the team to show them that their hard work in practice is paying off. He also said the team can learn from that game and build on it going forward.
“We’re not the type of program who is happy getting a win,” Seward said. “If anything, this has made us appreciate the winning that much more.”
Third-year guard Ashley Riefenhauser said Seward has been positive with the team because he knows it’s a young and inexperienced team that has lost a lot of players from last season.
In practice the team is specifically working on defense by trying different things that they haven’t been doing in the past, Walker said.
Seward said a bright spot of the team has been second-year Captain Goldie Harrison because of how she’s grown as a player and leader. He said she’s starting to hold her teammates more accountable and starting demand more out of them.
He also said he’s also been impressed with the productivity the team has received from first-year forward Courtney Irby and first-year guard and forward Kit Small. He is proud of Irby’s tremendous progress from the beginning of the season until now and believes that Small is going to be a special player for the program in the future.
Walker said she hasn’t been playing up to her potential. She thinks in order to elevate her game, she has to become more aggressive by trying to get to the basket and free throw line more often. She also said she wants to become a better leader on the court.
Seward said would like to see Walker play consistently like she did in the win against Oswego, where she scored 19 points and made three three-pointers.
“I would like to see her get to a point where she’s more confident and playing more to the level that we really believe she can be,” Seward said.
With eight games left in the regular season, Riefenhauser said she wants the team to keep competing.
“What’s great about our team is that regardless if we’re winning or losing we’re doing this together,“ Riefenhauser said.
Seward said the team’s main goal for the remainder of the season is to keep working hard and develop a high level of competiveness.
“Until we’re mathematically eliminated we’re going to continue to fight and believe that we have a shot to get better and get in that tournament,” Seward said.
The Lady Hawks will hit the road this weekend as they play at SUNY Potsdam on Jan. 31 and at SUNY Plattsburgh on Feb. 1.