Women’s basketball turned their season around after rocky start to due COVID-19 protocols. They ended their season with a record of 5-7, including a four-game win streak to close out ODAC play. The streak put the Marlins to a 4-4 record in ODAC play, giving the team a first-round bye. The Marlins then went on to the ODAC tournament quarter-finals, where they lost to Washington and Lee with a final score of 67-109.
Although the season had its challenges, Head Coach Liz Hudy gave the young Marlins team a pleased nod after the team had proven to overcome those challenges. “I was really proud of our performance and to get us one level closer [to ODAC finals] than the year before,” said Hudy. In a typical season, the Marlins play 25 games. This year there were only 11 games played.
Although there is growth in the Marlins’ future, Hudy is already looking forward to the damage the team will be able to do next season.
“We had some growth and learning that we had to do at the beginning of the year from an X’s and O’s standpoint, and I think we were really excited to come together as a team midway through and have everybody back together…. That’s when we went on our win streak. For us it’s about growth and I’m really proud about how we ended the season and [plan to] use that momentum going forward to next season,” said Hudy.
Up and coming freshman stars S’Zahria Jones and Adaje Williams both earned starting spots while being top scorers on the team. Senior Sabrina Jones was another top scorer and held the most rebounds for the team. Jones was also proud of the team for how far they had come.
“For us and being here last year, we have definitely come a long way with everything that happened at the beginning of the season, only playing with 6 or 7 players for six games. When we got back together we treated it as a fresh season. We looked at our record as being 0-0 [and] when everyone came back, we put the pedal to the metal and gave it all we got,” said Sabrina Jones.
Jones acknowledges that the team is young but says that is also a strength for the team going forward into next season. “The sky’s the limit for this team for sure,” said Jones.
By Nathan Sheirburn
nssheirburn@vwu.edu
