Despite smaller team, women’s basketball aims to be SLIAC champions

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Even with the smaller roster, women’s basketball player Julie Baudendistel said the team has great chemistry. 

Walking into the Grant Gymnasium, any St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) women’s basketball team will see a small squad. Eleven players will be warming up for a game and two injured players will be sitting on the Webster gorloks’ bench. Despite how the Webster women’s basketball team might look, it continues to succeed in the conference.

The basketball team has had three players who did not return this year for personal reasons. Dari Hunter, one of the team’s forwards, is out with a season-ending knee injury. Braelyn Post, post guard, is currently out for the season with recurring back problems. 

Despite these roadblocks and the team’s small roster, the gorloks have a season record of 6-1. They have won competitive games against Greenville University, Spalding University and Illinois College. 

“We were set back a little bit, but we stayed positive. We are a small team but also a great team. We just prove [other teams] wrong when we get on the floor and the scoreboard shows it in the end,” basketball player Julie Baudendistel said. 

Baudendistel said there are some positives to having a small roster. She said the team chemistry has been great and every player is involved in some way.

“We all play a part on the team whether it be on the bench or on the floor. Everyone is supportive of each other and constantly cheering. [As a team], we are really coming together and helping each other on and off the floor,” Baudendistel said. 

Despite being injured, Hunter and Post continue to support the team. Head coach Jordan Olufson said Hunter even refers to herself as ‘Coach Dari.’ Both players are still at every practice and game and their teammates said they are still a big part of the program, even with their absence on the court. 

Olufson is amazed by his players stepping up and is proud of the program’s success.

“They are amazing people and players. They stay motivated because they love playing. We have a great group that cares, is passionate and dedicated,” Olufson said. 

The basketball team hopes to continue its winning streak against Spalding University, a team it beat earlier in the season 86-63. As for the team’s long-term goal, Baudendistel said they want to achieve the status of SLIAC conference champions. 

“[Other teams] do not know that we have a very talented team, but we continue to stay focused and prove people wrong,” Baudendistel said.

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Kelly Bowen
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I am a journalism major. I play on the women’s soccer team at Webster. I enjoy coffee, Mexican food and watching The Real Housewives of Orange County with my sister.