The Win Within the Loss

November 18

We opened our season tonight at Brooklyn College with a thrilling game in which we played extremely hard, but came out on the wrong end, in a 78-76 loss.

It was hard to stay upset about the game because of how well we played. It was our first game, we played in a small, hostile gym against a team that boasted six transfer students who were incredibly athletic and could really shoot. As a small, young team that hasn’t played much together, we faced our fair share of difficult moments but when it looked like we were down for good, we always managed to climb back and stay in the game. We displayed a lot of heart and character, and despite coming out on the losing end of a game that could have gone either way, we definitely made it clear that we will play every minute of every game this season with a ‘never-die’ attitude.

We were again led by our frontcourt, with freshman Kristyn Tempora going off for 23 points, while our junior captain Emily Haeuser had 19 and grabbed 12 rebounds herself. Freshman Brittany Parks had 11 points as well, while Jenica Law had a great game shooting 5 for 9 from the field for 10 total points.

Turnovers plagued us, particularly in trying to break their hard-nosed full-court trap. The guards we played tonight were quicker than most I saw last year, and their ability to pressure the ball was impressive. Although we did have trouble breaking the press, when we did beat it we were able to execute and get an easy bucket out of it. We proved we can break a press, it is just matter of consistency, which will improve as the season goes on.

Naturally, we were all disappointed about losing the game. We’re competitive, we work hard and we wanted to show everyone how we’re turning this program around by winning our first game. But despite not coming home with the win, anyone who watched that game and had seen teams of years past would definitely agree that it’s an entirely different team dynamic. We come to play, we don’t back down, and we definitely don’t give up. I’ve always thought that the worst thing an athlete can experience is sitting on the bus after the game thinking about the things they wished they had done; how they wished they had played harder or hadn’t given up so easily when the game got rough. Not one person on this team could have said anything like that; we came to play and we left it all on the floor, what more can we ask of ourselves?

While a little sad about losing, I spent most of the ride home thinking about how much we are going to progress as a team as the season goes on. We have so much potential, and the more we play together and learn in practice, the better we’re going to get. If we combine that with our work ethic and ‘never give up’ attitude, we’ll be surprising some teams this year. We may have taken the loss tonight, but I’m confident that won’t always be the case.

One last thing about tonight- I really enjoyed playing basketball. I didn’t score a lot, and I made my share of mistakes, but it didn’t affect the excitement I felt. I appreciated playing and competing with my teammates, knowing that whatever happened we were in it together. We never got down on each other and whether someone played all forty minutes of the game or not even one minute, we always supported one another. To be a part of this team is a privilege and something I feel extremely grateful for.