Season Over

It's the middle of March already! Hard to believe that our 2010-11 season has ended. Certainly this season was as good as any season the Yellow Jackets have had. Nobody expected us to accomplish what we did after the graduation of our 3-time Player of the Year, Molly Ariail, and Renee Stein. We coaches believed from the beginning that we had the makings of a good team and that if we did certain things, we would accomplish our goals. Well those 11-players did those things and then some! As a result, we won the seventh ODAC Championship for the program and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the ninth time. It goes to show that championships can be won with the right mix of players, work ethic, and attitude. We are very proud of this 2010-11 team.

ODAC CHAMPS

Three games in 4-days isn't as bad as it sounds when you end up victorious. Our championship run was incredible ending with a very dramatic finish. With 6.7 seconds remaining in the regulation game, we were down by 3. The coaching staff can't take total credit for this well-executed play by the team. We did run our press offense to perfection, however. As time was expiring, the screen set by Taylor was well done; and gave Jennifer the time she needed to "heave" (as the newspaper said) a bank shot and score 3-points. Epic is how one person described it. No matter the words used--we were able to gather ourselves after that shot and go on to win our 7th Conference championship. We are off to NCAA play this weekend.

Tournament Time

PINK OUT

I am looking forward to "pinking out" Crenshaw this weekend. This is our WBCA Pink Zone weekend. Tonight we host Roanoke at 7:00 pm and we will wear our pink uniforms and we have asked our fans to "pink out" the gym. We will be raffling off a pink ball and all proceeds will go to the Kay Yow Fund. Tomorrow we host Hollins at 5:00. We will also wear our pink uniforms and again ask our fans to "pink out" the gym. We will be conducting a 50/50 raffle with all proceeds going to the Friends of Jaclyn, which is the foundation that connected our team with a pediatric cancer patient, our beloved Reese Klauer. Sure do hope to see you in your pink outfit...

Back to the Hive

This past weekend we celebrated our 22nd Annual Back to the Hive. We had 32 people return and be recognized at half-time. The whole weekend started out with breakfast on Friday morning to see a former player, Cindy Crabill Szadokierski `81, receive the Distinquished Alumna Award. On Saturday morning we had 20 former players suit up for an Alumnae contest, Odd Years vs Even Years with the Evens prevailing once again. We dedicated the new Wall of Honor and gave thanks to the donors. After a hard fought victory that day, we topped the afternoon off with our post-game social in Alumni Gym. It was a wonderful atmosphere and lots of opportunity to reminisce about previous playing days. Thanks to all who made the day special.

J-Term is in Full Swing

January Term is always an interesting time on the Randolph-Macon College campus. It is a great time to do a travel course--a little more difficult for a basketball player, but our other sports athletes are able to do so. Basketball players usually do their travel courses in the summer, if they have the desire to do such a thing. J-term is also a very good time to do an internship and we have had several players through the years take advantage of this opportunity. Jennifer is currently working with a local firm in their accounting office and is thoroughly enjoying the experience. It is fun to see some of our athletes hustling and bustling to their internships. They have to work a full day of work and then come to their practice or team stuff. It is quite demanding for them, but it sure does prepare them for what's beyond their athletic career. We have only two more weeks of J-term before we start second semester. In talking with some of them, they will be ready to get back to being just a college student.

Cold, Cold, Cold

Not only has our shooting been as cold as it ever has, it has been cold in Ashland. As a matter of fact, it was the 7th coldest December on record according to my oil company. Why even the snow we had before and after Christmas hasn't even melted in some places. That is unusual for Ashland. Hopefully 2011 will be warmer in all aspects. My New Year's wish was for the team/players to have a hot hand as we begin the remainder of our conference schedule. This weekend we'll see how work and wishes go together.

Need Some Warm Weather

We are in exam week. It is very cold here and on Monday we had snow. The forecast calls for more snow and colder temps, but we are hoping we can miss all of that when we head to Daytona Beach on Saturday for the Daytona Beach Shootout. We will be in Florida from Dec. 18-22. The team will be very excited to be back out on the court and done with their finals. It will be a great time for team development and team camaraderie. We will have two very tough games as well, but they will test our fortitude early this season. Finally we hope to have some fun before the semester break.

Thanksgiving has Passed

It is hard to believe we have just celebrated the Thanksgiving break. We were fortunate that our players had the opportunity to go home and be with their families. Thanksgiving is the best time to remind us that we are truly blessed and it is important to give thanks for what we have. Now we are back at school for the remaining two weeks of classes before exams. This will be a busy time for the players in keeping up with the amount of work that is expected of them for their classes as well as staying fresh as a basketball player. We have a couple of road games during that span and they are tough conference games, too. So we continue to plug away and grow together each day. For that we are truly thankful at all times.

You Want to See Awesome?

This past Thursday and Friday, we had our Wall of Honor installed in the entrance to our locker room. This is a wall honoring the many accomplishments of the very fine players that have come through the Yellow Jacket program. With a generous donation, we were able to get the system honoring our accomplishments in full view of the team, their families, former players and their families and future players and their families. It turned out much better than we could imagine. It is definitely a centerpiece and something we are all proud of as it is the history of Randolph-Macon Women's Basketball. We hope you have a chance to come see it.

Scrimmages Done

Now that we have our two scrimmages completed, we are on our way to the start of our season. It is almost here. We are going to open up with a single game at Marymount on Tuesday and then come back to Ashland for the weekend to host our R-MC Tip-Off Classic sponsored by Riesbeck Contracting. The field this year, Roanoke, Mary Washington, and Ferrum, is awesome with all the teams being pre-season ranked or receiving votes, but us. There will be some great basketball in Crenshaw that weekend of Nov. 19/20. Come on out and support the Yellow Jackets and get them tipped in the right direction for the new season. See you soon. And remember to Think Yellow Jackets!

Getting Closer

Same `ole, same `ole. You often hear that and everyone knows what it means. These last two weeks have been just like that. But I love it! Get up-go to class--get work done-practice at the oddest hours of the day--go to bed late; then do it all over the next day almost the same way. Sounds boring, but believe me my life is not boring. I am so busy that I do not have time to be bored. I love seeing the team every day--they are not boring! Our scrimmage was a great test for our team. We coaches had the chance to see some combinations that we were not sure would work against an opponent. We also had the chance to see what we have to do when the shots are not falling. I was glad it was a scrimmage and those stats aren't seen by anyone. Thursday was the ODAC media day. I'd like to thank the coaches for picking us at #3. We were pleased with that spot considering all the strong teams in our Conference. It should be fun this season. There are a lot of very good players returning from each team, so it will be a tough schedule this season. We have one more test before we open on Nov. 16. More to come later.

Finally writing again...

It has been awhile since I lasted posted some news. No excuses except the start of the season, a quick flight to Maine for my induction in to the Midcoast Sports Hall of Fame, and then Homecoming. We are off to a good start for the 2010-11 season. The players are working very hard and the team is coming together. Our new players are learning quickly the difference between high school and college ball. We will have our first scrimmage on the 31st. Homecoming was this past weekend and it was fabulous to see former players back for their 5th, 10th, 15th, and 25th reunions. Seeing other teams' former athletes back to celebrate the day was just as special. As a matter of fact a former players' dad told me I needed to keep this spot up to date so I promise I will do better. What lovely weather we had to stand around and reminisce about various times through out the different seasons. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with some of my players about their experiences and listening to the older (before 1981) players share their moments. All in all just a super day.

Another Great RMC Open

Our annual Golf Open was a huge success this past Saturday. We had the best event we have had to date. We had more golfers, more sponsors, more friends who joined us for lunch, and more good weather. Our day started with lunch, a silent auction, give-aways, and an introduction of our 2010-11 team as well as comments from me. Katie Williams also spoke on behalf of the team and talked a little about the team's pre-season activities. Then it was tee-off at 1:00. Congrats to Carson and his teammates from UVA for shooting 12 under. They brought some livelihood to the course. Our RMC Open has become as special as our Back to the Hive. We hope you will plan on joining us next season.