ODESSA, Texas — The UTPB women's basketball team found out on Sunday night that they will be taking part in the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship Tournament. It's the first appearance in the tournament in program history, but the story of this tournament appearance goes back much further than just the 2023-2024 season.
College athletics have seen quite the change over the past half decade, with one of those changes being the transfer portal. Thousands of athletes each year change teams due to injury, lack of playing time, coaching changes or a myriad of other reasons. UTPB women's basketball has seen the opposite take place as players stayed put, building up the program.
Now, their patience has been rewarded with a trip to the big dance.
"I'm grateful that the players that hung in there during the years where we didn't make it or we were close and we came up short, that all the lessons we learned, we get to now kind of get paid for those and, and and see really the product of our work and and their buy in," Head Coach Rae Booth said. "I'm glad they're getting to experience this together."
One such player is Fifth Year Senior Alexus Quaadman, the defensive player of the year in the Lone Star Conference. Quaadman stuck it out through four seasons of missing the postseason.
"It's honestly surreal because I've been here for a long time and this is honestly the first time we've ever actually been in it, so it's really exciting to be able to attempt to go play those games, so I'm excited for sure," said Quaadman.
Sharpshooter Holly Hemmeline is another senior who believed in the process and in this coaching staff.
"Yeah, we've been through a lot this past four, five years, you know, it's always fun winning," Hemmeline said. "And this team just has a lot of chemistry ever since our first game, and it's easier to because we all trust each other on and off the court."
Speaking of patience rewarded, another senior, Andreea Mancha, is coming off of an injury and has bounced back for a big season. Mancha stuck around instead of playing elsewhere.
"I knew right off the bat just from the recruiting process. Coach Rae is someone who really cares about us, her team, and someone that works really hard, and just coming into that culture, that was just something I was really looking for," Mancha said. "So just having her, the team, I'm really happy for her. All her hard work is really paying off."
Though they fell short against Texas Woman's last week in Frisco, this team is extremely confident heading in to Denton.
The Lady Falcons will match up against Adams State in the tournament's first round as the number four seed, taking on the number five seed. UTPB has a potential rematch possibly set up for the second round against TWU, if both the Lady Falcons and the Lady Pioneers win their first games.