During a record-breaking game on Nov. 28, 20 ll, Harding's Lady Bisons sent Christian Brothers University's Lady Bucs home utterly defeated. Harding beat Christian Brothers 80-30 during their first home game of the season. The score of 30 points was the lowest an opposing team had ever scored on the Lady Bisons, with the Lady Bucs at the lowest shooting percentage of any opponent in Harding's history. "We just dominated," sophomore Katy Preaus said. "It seemed like everything was going right. Every shot of ours seemed like it was going in. We played well as a whole." The victory foreshadowed many others to come for the Lady Bisons, but there was more happening behind the scenes than met the eye. Throughout the duration of the season, the team sustained four critical injuries to key players, causing younger teammates to step up and take ID charge. By the time the Lady Bisons headed to the Great American Conference (GAC), they were starting with three freshmen and a sophomore and ranked 4th in the tournament. "I'm really pleased with the way this team has competed through some adversities," Head Coach Tim Kirby said. ':As we were losing players to injury, we had to move girls into new roles, and although there will always be some things that are inconsistent any time a team is playing new or young members, the team has responded well." Freshmen Montana Lewis, Tabitha Haney and Arielle Saunders and sophomore Kristen Celsor held up under the pressure of their new roles, with Celsor chosen as Freshman Player of the Year. "It is unusual for a team to start with freshmen because we do not have the college experience other players have," Lewis said. "It has been easy, though, because our teammates and coaches have be1~ 11 ,·ral ly ~upponiw in Ll'<ttlting us. \Nc have lvmkc·rl ttJgl'lhn llJ> ,, 1\'rilll by tilling in the missing roles of our injured teammates. Everyone has had to step outside her comfort zone and play different spots on the floor. The season has taught me that when things are not going a certain way, we cannot give up. We just have to get tougher." Senior Sierra Rollins, who sustained a seasonending injury on Jan. 26 in a game against Arkansas-Monticello, overcame her disappointment by supporting the younger girls, and her actions did not go unnoticed. "Sierra has done a greatjob of being a leader even though she isn't playing the rest of the season," Kirby said. "The great thing about sports and being a part of a team is that adversity and obstacles will occur; how we handle these things will make our team stronger." Sarah Eason Athletics f b f
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==