Playing in their Horizon League opener against Youngstown State, the women's basketball team was still searching for their first win at home. With high expectations, the girls are not going to give up. I caught up with Jessi Wiedemann and Jessica Carr after the game to get their reaction.
Jessi's mindset was to improve from the preseason since it was their first conference game. Jessica's mindset was very focused and she felt confident in the team. Unable to gain any lead, the Crusaders were down by six going into halftime. When asked if they could have won the game, both players felt confident.
"We were confident coming out for the second half. Both sides came out strong," Jessi said.
"At halftime, we definitely thought we could pull off a win since we hadn't played to our best potential," Jessica said.
Despite having only two wins so far, both players felt the team could turn things around and contend for a first-round match at home. When asked about this, Jessi said that she hoped the team could since they were changing things up. Jessica said that they were shooting for at least ten wins and the great thing about the conference is the tournament is fair game.
Playing time definitely took its toll as the team was down to only nine healthy players. I asked Jessi and Jessica about this and how it affected their playing time. "Liz, Lexi, and Aliyah are about to come back, so that will make things easier," Jessi told me.
Jessica agreed to an extent. "Having only nine healthy players greatly affects playing time. Everyone has to step up and play a lot. This is good since we gain experience and play through our mistakes.
However, it also demands that everyone be healthy. Having fewer of us makes it easier to be on the same page, but it would be nice to have everyone back healthy."
One of the biggest questions is whether the team can contend for a .500 season. This was a tough question to ask since the team was obviously struggling. Jessi told me that since they've already played about half of their games, it was likely impossible but definitely achievable. Jessica told me that they can contend if they turn things around right now. She thought that by the time the conference tournament rolls around, everyone will have pulled together and would be playing at their very best.
