Five years, 147 games and 120 plus credit hours later, Christine Mainguy, is saying goodbye to her teammates, coaches and friends as she prepares to graduate in May.
With the 2008-2009 basketball season completed, Mainguy’s college basketball career has ended, allowing her to redirect her attention solely on what the future holds for her.
She can now devote her time and effort to schoolwork, other hobbies or clubs she wants to be a part of; however, Mainguy, finance/management senior, spends the majority of her time trying to find a career in her hometown, Houston.
“My main focus at this point is looking for a job. I went home a few weeks ago and began searching for a job in finance but it’s really tough right now,” she said.
“I love New Orleans so I wouldn’t be surprised if I found myself moving back here, but right now my plan is to get a job in Houston.”
Aside from searching for a job, Mainguy plays tennis and pick-up basketball with the women’s basketball team in her spare time.
“Even though the season is over for me, I still play with them because they need more players and it’s just fun. I love playing basketball and I love being with them,” she said.
According to Mainguy, she will miss her teammates and her friends the most after graduating.
“I’ll miss my teammates and the friends that I’ve made here especially one of the girls I played with only my freshman year. We have grown so close over the last five years and she has become one of my best friends,” she said.
“I’ll just miss the people,” she said.
Over the course of her career, the Lady Wolfpack have captured two Gulf Coast Athletic Conference titles and appeared in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Tournament twice in the past three years.
Mainguy has averaged 5.8 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game and has shot 61.8 percent from the field in five years playing center for the maroon and gold, a major transition from playing point guard in high school.
On top of experiencing success playing basketball, Mainguy excelled in the classroom. In the 2007-2008 season she was selected as a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete honoring her efforts on the court and in the classroom.
Although she intends on pursuing a job after graduation, Mainguy has not ruled out coaching basketball in the future whether in Houston or as an assistant for the Lady Wolfpack.
“I thought about it but I don’t think I will coach anywhere at the moment. Maybe in a year or somewhere down the line but I’m pursuing a job in the field of finance first,” Mainguy said.
“I’ll definitely come back to some of their games to support them next season though.”
One of the moments Mainguy believes she will remember the most is the game against conference opponent Mobile University.
The team, needing a victory to win the GCAC conference, rallied to overcome a 15 point deficit on the road to win the game.
“Without anyone saying anything, everyone decided at the same time that we were not going to let that happen. We came out of the huddle after a timeout and we just took over the game,” she said.
