After a 33 conference game winning-streak, a regular season conference championship and a ‘Pack-load of player of the week awards, there’s only one real competitor going into the conference tournament:
Loyola University.
At least, that’s the attitude of the women’s team.
“The only team that can beat Loyola is Loyola,” psychology pre-med senior Kim Rigg said of head coach Dobee’s Plaisance’s philosophy for the women’s basketball team. “We just have to go out there and play our game and stay focused and not worry about beating any team, but just win for Loyola.”
Because they were the regular season conference champion, the team has already earned a berth in the national tournament, but they are fighting in the conference tournament for a higher seed in nationals.
The women’s basketball team has been crushing the competition with its 33 game winning-streak, which ended after a 64-67 loss to Xavier on Feb. 28.
“We fought hard,” said Plaisance. “I blame myself. There was poor communication between myself and the team as far as play calling and different sets we were in, so I took full responsibility for that. And at practice we’re working hard at clearer communications.”
“It felt real good to have that streak,” sociology senior Adama Mballow said. “Having all the support we had felt good and I think we deserved it.”
“We were really proud and we’re still proud,” history senior Rachel Kovac said. “We lost one game the whole time and none of the other teams did that and I think it’s going to be good for us going into the tournament and going into the nationals.”
The ‘Pack quickly recovered from their loss against Xavier on March 1 in a special game dedicated to seniors Rigg, Mballow, Kovac and mass communication senior Keily Schork, as well as the men’s basketball seniors, for their hard work and dedication to Wolfpack basketball for the past four seasons.
Each senior received flowers and a picture of herself in action to commemorate her contributions to the team, and walked to the center of the court with her parents.
In the heated game against Tougaloo, in which Mballow gave Loyola an early lead that never let up, the ‘Pack dominated the Lady Bulldogs 88-64.
“We rebounded very strongly and we played with a lot of focus,” Plaisance said. “It was an emotional night for our seniors because everyone on this team genuinely loves each other. That’s really who we played for tonight.”
This game became their 17th Gulf Coast Athletic Conference win of the season, one of the many school records the team, ranked 15th, have broken this season.
It’s not only the team that has won top honors lately, but individual players as well. Schork recently became the first Loyola player to earn the GCAC All Conference Honor four times in her career. Management sophomore Trenell Smith joined Schork, receiving the GCAC All Conference Honor for the second time along with her twin sister, management sophomore Trenese Smith.
Trenese also won her first GCAC Player of the Year Award and is ranked No. 8 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in points per game. She was the first Loyola player to be named the NAIA’s National Player of the Week.
Plaisance has some things to celebrate as well. Plaisance won her second GCAC Coach of the Year Award right after she had been nominated as a finalist for the Russell Athletic/Women’s Baskestball Coach Association National Coach of the Year award for NAIA District Six.
“I feel very blessed,” Plaisance said. “But any time an award comes my way, all I can do is reflect on my team because I have not hit a bucket or pulled out a rebound since 1986, so they’re the ones making me look good. But I do feel very blessed about it.”
While the team is working on communication and staying consistent in plays, the teams in the conference should watch out for the ‘Pack’s strong three-point shooting and tough defense.
Plaisance says it all:
“If we bring our A-game to the table, we have no worries.”
Briana Prevost can be reached at [email protected].
