For the Webster University women’s basketball team, a 53-50 loss to Greenville College in their final game was indicative of how their season had played out: they came close, but ultimately fell short. The team suffered 15 losses for the first time since the 2006-2007 season.
Ashley Brooks goes up for a layup in Webster’s win over Eureka College.
Webster suffered injuries to vital players like Taylor Bell and Aley Lucas and also dealt with a lack of post players.
Despite the record, Head Coach Jordan Olufson said there are many positives to take away from this season. Amid losses, he said his team continued to play hard and with effort.
“We were a really young team with freshmen that played a lot of minutes and sophomores that played, so we have to be able to build off of the minutes that we got and use that as a building block for experience,” Olufson said. “I think we ended well (against Greenville College), and we had a lot of young kids out there, so that’s always good to see for the future.”
Olufson also said he was pleased with the way starting juniors Ashley Brooks and Brittany Harris-Conway performed this year. Now that Cassie Endicott, the team’s veteran leader and only senior this season, is graduating, Olufson said he is confident Brooks and Harris-Conway will carry the load and lead the team next season.
“As seniors coming back, (Brooks and Harris-Conway) will be captains,” Olufson said. “They’re hard workers, they’ll get after it, and if everyone follows suit, we’ll be all right.”
Brooks and Harris-Conway averaged a combined 22.4 points and 11 rebounds per game and played a role in the team’s 10 wins this season.
Brooks improved in nearly every statistical category from last season to this season. This season, she sank 34 three-pointers after making 29 last season.
Brooks said she was able to play so well this season because she felt more comfortable with the team. Despite the losses, she still enjoyed playing basketball this year.
“I absolutely enjoyed this season; this was a really fun team to play on,” Brooks said. “We all wish that we could have won more games, but it was definitely a good season from the aspect of we got along really well and I very much loved the team that I was on this year.”
Brooks said she thinks the team can come back strong next season, and Olufson agreed. He said if the team continues to work hard in the off season to improve, then the team will see themselves improve in the win-loss column.
Share this post
