Women’s basketball comes to close

Jenny Rohl/The News Freshman guard Olivia Cunningham pushes through an Austin Peay State player shoot for a two point shot on Feb. 21.
Jenny Rohl/The News Freshman guard Olivia Cunningham pushes through an Austin Peay State player shoot for a two point shot on Feb. 21.

In case you missed it, the women’s season is over, but not without records, honors and three triple digit wins.

Racer basketball may still be on for the men’s team but the women’s team has had to say goodbye to this season’s 8-21 overall season and 3-13 OVC season.

“I’m proud of the energy our team has played with and the energy in practices,” said Head Coach Rob Cross. “The season hasn’t gone the way we’d like it with all the close losses but our team has stayed in there and I think it says a lot about their character and their heart.”

The Racers preseason offered fans a good outlook for the OVC games, with eight losses and five wins, and three of those wins being triple digits, it’s conference season looked good.

Cross said the team played with energy and did a good job of playing with that energy throughout the preseason games. He said it was a team effort.

The Racers began their season on a disheartening nine-game losing streak. The first six losses were all within 10 points.

Five of those 10 games were only five points or less away from its opponent.

Kalli Bubb/The News Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville tries to rebound the ball as the Racers shoot in the paint.
Kalli Bubb/The News Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville tries to rebound the ball as the Racers shoot in the paint.

The women’s program saw it’s most points in a game against Brescia 118-50 which was the third of its triple digit wins. The first triple digit win was against Alabama A&M 102-81 and the second was against Blackburn College 110-31.

With enthusiasm from their wins the Racers entered the OVC season.

Though the team had a nine-game losing streak, it was able to break the streak on the home court against Southeast Missouri State 86-81. It wasn’t long after their win the Racers lost again which didn’t allow them to receive a bid to the OVC Championship.

The appearance of the team’s losses is misleading because while the Racers had an overall losing season, they managed to score 2,134 points as oppose to their opponents this season who scored a total of 2,205 points. While their first period overall scores were slightly lower than our opponents, the Racers tied with 1,142 points in the second period games with their opponents.

The Racers had an overall season three-point field goal average of 7.7 per game which is 1.4 more than its rivals. The women’s team also managed 13.3 assists per game versus their opponents who had an average of 15.7 assists per game.

Kalli Bubb/The News Junior forward Bianca Babic attempts to steal the ball from an Eastern Kentucky player on Jan. 22.
Kalli Bubb/The News Junior forward Bianca Babic attempts to steal the ball from an Eastern Kentucky player on Jan. 22.

Players like senior guard Keiona Kirby put up 459 points and freshman forward and guard Ke’Shunan James came in just under Kirby with 447 points.

Looking into the next season the Racers will lose three valuable players who are graduating: forward Chanyere Hosey, forward and center Netanya Jackson and Kirby

 

Story by Kelsey Randolph, Assistant Sports Editor

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