As the women’s basketball team continues to battle in the last part of their season, Juleigh Anne Tucker outlines the team’s goals for both finishing out strong and competing in the postseason.
“This season, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of injuries and lots of people in and out,” said Tucker. “I think at one point we had like nine healthy players and a 15-person roster.”
Despite the adversity, the team continues to overcome and put the pieces together.
“And so, I think this season, we’re playing with what we had, and we’re going to do our best to persevere over the injuries, so now that we’re starting to get healthy again, it’s gotten a lot better,” explained Tucker. “Everyone’s starting to come back.”
When discussing the team, Tucker detailed how the overall positive team chemistry contributed to their success.
“We just love each other, and we love basketball, and we just want to win basketball games,” said Tucker. “So, I think the mood or vibe of the team is just winning basketball games, being there for each other, and having each other’s back on and off the court.”
When discussing some of the difference-makers on the team, Tucker described #22 Morgan Flannery and #21 Emily Sizemore.
“I would say some of our big leaders on our team would be Emily Sizemore and Morgan Flannery,” said Tucker. “[Morgan] is a great vocal leader. She leads by example, which is honestly better than leading by words, because if you say it, you have to do it. And then [Emily], you can always count on her to give her best effort and to be a leader, and sometimes saying the hard things that no one else wants to say, which is just as important as being positive.”
Sizemore had a standout game against Maryville, with 20 points and five rebounds, and was named BGO player of the week.
Tucker was also recently named Bluegrass Orthopedics Player of the Week and she described what the title meant for her.
“It’s really exciting. I mean, I couldn’t do it without my teammates passing me the ball, so it’s like a team award, I would say,” said Tucker. “But it was just very exciting to see hard work pay off. I missed the first half of the season, so it was reassuring to come back and have good games and then be recognized.”
As the team continues to battle their conference opponents and make their way to the CCS tournament, Tucker discussed how the team prioritizes consistency and their determination to make it to the NCAA tournament.
“We struggle with consistency sometimes, which is inevitable when you play basketball, but to put together consistent games, consistent performances, and just build that through February and going into March,” said Tucker. “I would say a team goal is definitely, I know for the junior class, is that we want to go to the NCAA.”
With the postseason quickly approaching, Tucker encourages the student body to come support both the women’s and men’s basketball teams.
“It’s a fun environment to be in, and the more people there are, the more fun it is [to play],” said Tucker.
Photo courtesy of Asbury Smug Mug.
