Rocky Mountain College’s Women’s Basketball Team made school history this year as the first team to win 29 games, ending their historic season with a loss in the fourth round of the 2022 NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship.
Their game against Thomas More University was a back and forth battle throughout the entire game, with multiple lead changes all the way to the last minute. Unfortunately, Thomas More had the final say in the game, taking a lead within the final 33 seconds to win the game 60-58. Following this historic season, coach Wes Keller was named the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coach of the Year, and senior N’Dea Flye was named to the WBCA All-American team, very high honors for both members of the Women’s Basketball team.
Despite this loss, the Rocky Women’s team is very happy about their season. Sophomore player Domi Stephens said that the biggest contributor to the team’s success this year was the “large amount of talent and hard work which was complemented by a strong bond between the team.” Stephens also explained that during practices, “The coaches were able to push the girls to exceed their potential and create new plays” that allowed them to display their individual as well as team strengths.
After last year’s COVID season with little to no crowd at their games, Stephens explains how amazing it was to have the school crowds backing them. “The crowd was insane this year,” Stephens said.”Honestly, I think they were a huge part of our success and they helped us achieve the goals we set.”
While the athletes are riding the high of their historic season, coach Keller is already looking to improve the team and is busy recruiting for next season. On March 23, Keller announced the commitment of two new athletes to the team, Juanita Joseph and Emma Jensen. Hopefully, the Lady Bears can take this season and keep the ball rolling into next season and make it even further into the Championships, maybe even far enough to win a National Title.
To read more about their season, check out the Rocky Women’s Basketball page at https://gobattlinbears.com/sports/womens-basketball