madison Wyker/The Carolinian

By Daniel Johnson, Staff Writer

Published in print Mar. 17, 2015

Two years ago, the Spartans Women’s Basketball team won only eight games.

Last year, the team won seven.

This season, the team continued their downward pattern and went 6-24 for the season.

To add insult to an already aggravated injury, the team went an abysmal 1-13 against their Southern Conference opponents and lost by thirty-four points against the Chattanooga Mocs in the first game of the Southern Conference tournament, ending their forget year. Out of a season that would be considered a disappointment by every stretch of the imagination, there are some bright spots.

Some of the most poorly lit, flickering, bright spots that might have ever seen the reflection of light, but bright spots indeed. 

First of all, with only two seniors, the team is bringing back almost the same roster with a year of maturity and development.

Junior Lucy Mason, who was named to the second All-Conference team, is returning to for her senior year. For this key reason, there is a possibility for the team to break their downward spiral and win more than six games.

As a whole, the team went only 4-17 at home, 2-13 on the road, and 0-4 in a neutral arena. Standouts for this past seasons include Mason, Shanese Harris, and Jade Scaife, with their return, will give the team and fans hope for next season.

Defensively, there is some positive to talk about though.

The team for the majority of the time played a full court press defense that worked at times. They averaged more than two-plus steals a game than their opponents, as well as owning a plus three-turnover margin against their opponents.

On the defensive side of the ball, the team was good. Not the 1960s Boston Celtics amazing, but good enough to win more than just six games.

Now to the disappointment, and surely there was a lot a disappointment.

Watching the team compete, there was one major flaw that prevented the team from winning, or even competing in many games: Scoring.

For the season, the team’s field goal was an embarrassingly terrible .357 percent. To give an idea of how bad that percentage is, the lowest team shooting percentage in NBA history is held by the 1954-55 Milwaukee Hawks (who would move to Atlanta in 1968) and they still had a higher percentage than the Blue and Gold (.362).

Graduating senior, Jarae Savage had the highest individual shooting percentage on the team with a .397 percentage (min. 20 attempts). If this team wants any chance to win in the future, those plans will go straight into the trash can (which would probably a few meters off) if the team does not do a complete 360 when it comes to the offense side of the ball.

A major loss for the women’s team will be the departure of forward Savage.

The 5’9 forward from Marietta, Georgia was perhaps the team’s most effective player.

Leading the team in rebounds (6.6), steals (2.7), field goal percentage, and second in scoring (11.8), either from recruits or returning players stepping up their performance, the team will need to find someone or someones to produce those kind of numbers for the 2015-16 season.

No one would consider this successful women’s basketball season. The 30 game season featured a terrible record, statistics that are almost laughably bad, and games that were not watchable.

However, there is no such thing as a completely lost season. For every season, even ones as dreadful as the women’s basketball season, there are always a few notes for a team to hang their hat on.

A returning roster, the emergence of Lucy Mason, and the wonderful position of going nowhere but up allows the 2014-15 Women’s Spartans to solemnly say goodbye to seniors Jarae Savage and Jessica Collins, and say hello to the many hours of weight room, film room, and practice courts in order to put a competitive product on the Fleming Gym court.   

Categories: daniel johnson, madison wyker, Sports