A bittersweet end to a record-breaking season Women’s Basketball takes third consecutive American Southwest Conference West Division title The timing of the COVID-19 closures couldn’t come at a worse time for the UMHB women’s basketball team. The need for safety precautions abruptly ended their record-breaking year in which the team had won its third consecutive American Southwest Conference West Division title, won the program’s first-ever ASC tournament championship, finished with the highest national ranking in program history, and made its secondstraight NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. “Even though we finished the season under unique circumstances, it was a great season,” said Mark Morefield, head women’s basketball coach. The Cru women went 26-4 this season and had advanced to
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the sectional round of the NCAA Division III National Championships for the second consecutive year before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. In early March, the NCAA canceled all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships due to the evolving pandemic. “Once I found out after our Thursday practice that the game was canceled, I thought about our seniors,” said Morefield, who has been at UMHB since 2015. “Hannah Holt had just ended her career with a knee injury the week before, and now our three other seniors were ending their careers in a way they had no control over. It was especially hard for Kendall Rollins and Alicia Blackwell, who had been key
The UMHB women’s basketball team won its first American Southwest Conference Championship by edging out Hardin-Simmons University 6058, which earned the team a second straight trip to the NCAA Division III National Championships. After its first tournament win against Austin College, the team was set to play its second game when the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
players since their freshman year. To find the right words to say to those two was very challenging. The whole team was hurting that night. They had worked so hard for this opportunity.” The team posted the highest final national rankings in the Division III era of the program when polls were released the first week in April. The Cru finished the season ranked ninth in the country in the D3hoops.com Top 25 and 10th in the nation in the WBCA Top 25 Poll. Undefeated Hope College was the pick for the top spot in both polls. “The one thing that stood out about this season was we had so much experience returning compared to past teams,” Morefield said. “Along with experience, this team had a tremendous amount of grit and determination. To finish the season on an 11-game winning streak and to have only two of those wins at home speaks volumes about the makeup of this season’s team.”
