As the women’s basketball season continues to heat up, the team has felt the thrill of victory as they continue to triumph over their opponents. They recently flew past the Azusa Pacific University Cougars on Nov. 11 to make their overall season record 3-1.
The dynamic squad can thank team leaders like senior forwards Elizabeth Munger and Chelsea Hill. Munger stands at 76 percent in shooting and averages 12 points a game. Hill has totaled 30 rebounds and 44 points in just four games.
Another leader, junior guard Annie Park, boasts 17 assists and has made 100 percent of her free throw attempts.
Shooting from behind the arc proves one of the Eagles’ biggest strengths as they have scored 29 three point shots in just four games. Junior guards Aubree Mittel and Amanda Darouie stand out in this category, as Mittel has scored 10 and Darouie boasts eight successful three-point attempts.
All of these players have taken the team to another level, but ask the women on the team and they will tell you that this game does not rely on individual effort.
“Our team has such good unity in that we do not carry the team on one person’s back,” said junior forward Taylor Casey. “Our bench is always ready to come out on the court strong, even if they are a back up [player], they are always strong on the court.”
Not only do the upperclassmen carry this mindset, but the new additions do as well.
“When you look at our team there’s not one main player, everybody contributes and that’s what I think a lot of other teams sometimes lack,” said freshman guard Dani Kennedy.
The statistics for the season show evidence of this unity, revealing that every single player has gotten playing time so far and everyone has contributed to the team’s success in some way. Freshman guard Chelsie Baham, who has totaled just four minutes on the court thus far, has still managed to contribute two rebounds for the Eagles.
With this deep bench, the Eagles will push on through the season and express high hopes for not just their Golden State Athletic Conference play, but also for post season.
“We want to be the best defensive team in our conference,” said Casey. “We’re hoping to go as far as we can into the championships.”
Right now, the Eagles rank third in GSAC standings, which is already an improvement from last year when they finished 7-7 to take fifth over Concordia University, San Diego Christian College and Arizona Christian University.
More improvements showed in the game against APU when the team beat the Cougars by 10, a stark comparison to last year’s loss by 20.
With this year’s team gaining more momentum, they will hopefully beat UC Merced on Saturday Nov.15 at 2 p.m. at Merced.
