Lady Rattlers: Success will come with hard work, faith

The women’s basketball season started with a record of nine wins and one loss before the Christmas holiday. However, at the beginning of the year the basketball team hit a slump, going on a six-game losing streak.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Taniyah Dawson, 20, a guard from Texas. “I don’t really think it’s because of the break. I just think we need to get back into the mindset.”

Senior guard Q’Vaunda Curry agreed.

“Right now it’s just a mindset thing,” Curry said. “We’re still the same team that was 9 and 1. We need to get out there and stop thinking so much about the fact that we haven’t won a game and just play and win a game.”

Despite the team’s rough times, Dawson said the determination and intensity continue to grow.

“It comes with believing in our team,” Dawson said. “Every time you step on the court, next time forget about the past and worry about what you gotta do that game and take care of business out there.”

Stephanie Foster, 20, a junior guard and forward, said the mentality of the team has not changed.

“We are still confident,” Foster said. “We are still the same team and the same people and we know we gotta be tough. There’s no time to have a pity party and there’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves…all we have time to do is figure out what’s wrong and go out there and fix it.”

With three seniors and six juniors this season, the Lady Rattlers are older and are more experienced. The team members agreed that confident attitudes and high expectations are revving up their competitive natures.

“We still expect to win the MEAC,” said Foster, 20, an Ohio native. “I know we are in a slump right now, but we’ll get out of it. We’re going to start winning more games because we know we can do it, and hopefully get momentum going into the MEAC and win it.”

Curry said the season goals of the team have not changed because of the losses. The team is pushing hard to make sure it meets its goals.

Curry said she and her teammates got together to support each other and regroup as a team to prepare themselves for their oncoming games.

“We got together and talked to each other while being really honest with one another about what it is we need,” Curry said. “We talked about some of the characteristics of a winning team: you gotta be committed. You gotta be disciplined. You gotta have heart every game, and you gotta fight every game. That’s what we want. If we do that and carry out our game plan then we’ll get there.”