Women’s basketball coach Kelly Kennedy coached her 200th winning game at Loyola.
The win took place at an away game against Life University in Georgia. Kennedy has been coaching women’s basketball at Loyola for 18 years and said that 400 wins “ won’t change much” as she plans to continue coaching with the same dedication and lead her team into the Southern States Athletic Conference.
Kennedy grew up playing basketball in her driveway and went on to play for North Carolina State. She shared that upon reaching the 400th win milestone she didn’t realize it had been that many wins.
“ For me it was just coaching another game. When I found out it was nice and a little crazy to think I had coached that many games,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy shared that her team and everyone who supports the team are her favorite things about coaching at Loyola. She says they have a great team that is dedicated to what they do. Deniya Thornton, a junior criminal justice psychology major, and Caitlin Travis, a junior cyber security major both play for the women’s basketball team and spoke very highly of Coach Kennedy.
“ Having Coach Kennedy has been nothing but a blessing,” said Thornton.
Thornton and Travis both said that Kennedy encourages everyone to push onward even on hard days and has fostered a team that feels like a family.
“ This has helped to create great team chemistry and an atmosphere in the team that has also [contributed] to our success,” Travis said.
Travis said that Kennedy leads high intensity practices with an emphasis on purpose, and that this translates to wins on the floor.
“ This is evident in Coach Kennedy’s 400 plus wins she has accumulated in her years of coaching,” Travis said.
Another thing both the players agreed on is that Kennedy is committed to helping the players improve their game and does so by using her basketball experience. As well as making sure the players know she is there for them all the time.
“Outside of basketball she cares for you like her own,” Thornton said.
