Today's post was written by Assistant Coach Marcus Moeller:
The NCAA Division II season has been officially underway for 7 days. The week had ups and downs, but we learned a lot and were able to end on a high note. Last Sunday we opened our season on the road in Tahlequah, OK. We faced a veteran NSU RiverHawks team and went home on the losing end of a hard fought game.
You can learn a lot about the maturity of a basketball team by watching how they respond to a loss. Needless to say, the following couple days were important for our team. After taking Monday off, we got back at it with an intense practice on Tuesday. We really stressed the little things. It was very important that we go back to focusing on simple things like catching and passing the basketball, making layups, making free throws, valuing the basketball…Tuesday through Thursday we worked very hard to correct some of the things that really plagued us vs. NSU. While it is safe to say that it wasn’t the best 3 days of practices we’ve ever had, it was obvious that we were making strides in the right direction. Winning on the road takes mental toughness and we grew in that area during these practices.
On Thursday evening, after practice, it was off to Emporia, Kansas to play in the ESU Tip-Off Classic. We had 2 quality opponents ahead of us (Evangel University--#21 in NIAA Division 1 poll-- and Eastern New Mexico University) and we knew we must play inspired, with lots of energy and emotion in order to get the results we wanted. Friday night we faced Evangel. Using our defense to create for our offense, we came away with a 79-43 win. Our defensive effort and intensity was finally starting to get closer to the “Southern Way” of playing defense.
I stated earlier that “You can learn a lot about the maturity of a basketball team by watching how they respond to a loss.” Well, it might be true that you can learn MORE about the maturity of a basketball team by watching how they respond to a win. Saturday was another great opportunity for our basketball team to prove their maturity. The challenge before us was a fast and athletic Eastern New Mexico team. The first half was a see-saw affair that saw the Zias hit a buzzer beating 3, sending us to the locker room with only a 4 point lead. However, fueled by a great start to the second half, we were able to pull away and win the contest 76-58. We were headed home 2-1 on the season! After the contest we learned that Michelle Hedgecock (Averaged 11.5 pts and 8.5 rbs) and Jasmine Lovejoy (Averaged 15.5 pts) had been named to the all-tournament team. Congrats ladies!
This weekend was GREAT for our team. Now we have 4 days to prepare for the Pizza Hut/Fairfield Inn Classic held in our very own Leggett and Platt Athletic Center. Can’t wait to come back and play in front of our AWESOME fans!
Until next time…It’s a GREAT day to be a LION!!
Marcus Moeller
Assistant Coach
