Women's basketball head coach Polly Thomason said despite a rough start in the first few games, the Comets were much stronger in the Dec. 4 opener game. She said they played aggressively and offensively while also getting stops defensively. Photo by Amina Hussain | Mercury Staff
Basketball teams bring strong presence in ASC opening games against Ozarks, hope to defend last year’s titles
Men’s and women’s basketball won their first American
Southwest Conference opener games of the season before starting winning streaks
for their respective teams.
The men’s team beat the Ozarks 69-57 at the Dec. 4 opener,
with junior Kelden Pruitt scoring 21 points and senior Jalen Weber scoring 15
points. Meanwhile, the women’s team won their opener 59-45, with graduate guard
Victoria Pena taking the lead with 17 points and junior guard Raenett Hughes
scoring 14 points.
Women’s basketball head coach Polly Thomason said that the
team started strong in the Dec. 4 game.
“It was a good game that we came out from the tips just
playing aggressively, offensively and getting good stops defensively,” Thomason
said. “The first half we really looked like ourselves; we really looked like UT
Dallas — you know, the team we should be — so I was just really happy to see
that because … the first few games we didn’t start off as strong.”
Thomason said that she relied on her returners to be leaders
for the team and that her team’s goal this season was to develop into the best
team they can be.
“They’ve got experience, and they’re bringing that to the
table every game, you know, with Victoria Pena and Raenett Hughes, they’ve
always been really good players for us and they’re continuing to do so,” she
said. “I mean, for us, I think all it just boils down to is just making the
right plays offensively, defensively and trusting that your teammates are going
to do their job as well.”
Hughes and Pena have shown out this season, helping the team
get an eight-game winning streak. Pena got a record 12 assists at the team’s
Jan. 2 match against Concordia Texas, bringing her season total to 67. Hughes
was named ASC East Division Women’s Basketball Player of the Week three weeks
in a row, averaging over 20 points in the team’s most recent games and hitting
a season high with 35 points at the Dec. 15 match against Trinity.
Pena said that the team always has a lot of energy and the teammates
have one another’s backs.
“Something super cool about us is that we have a super lit
bench,” Pena said. “Whether you play or not or whether you sit on the bench —
we don’t care what your role is, you matter to our team.”
Head Men’s Basketball Coach Terry Butterfield said that
preparation is always the key to a successful basketball team.
“Our kids have to be prepared for every practice and every
game. They have to practice well, they have to play well and we have to
maximize the skills of our team,” Butterfield said. “I think that we’re good
enough to have success against anybody, but I think that we’re also at a point
where if we don’t come prepared, anybody can come get us as well and steal the
victory away from us.”
The men’s and women’s basketball season ends on Feb. 22,
with the last game of the season against McMurry. If the teams qualify for the
American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament, they will advance to the
first round on Feb. 27. Last spring, both the UTD men’s and women’s basketball
teams won the American Southwest Conference Championship. This year,
Butterfield said that their goal is to defend their titles.
“That’s sort of what we play for,” Butterfield said. “And if
we’re able to win the conference championship, that gives us an automatic
invitation to the NCAA tournament, which is the national tournament for
division three.”
Butterfield said that the team is working together towards a
common goal, and his players want the opportunity to show who they are on the
court.
“I really believe that team spirit has to come from within
the group. It’s got to be about the quality and character of our players to
band together,” he said. “And I’ve got four seniors that are what I call my
group leaders who are really important to that spirit and leadership: our point
guard — his name is Jalen Weber, Xavier Ferrell is a senior for us, Hans
Burwitz is an inside player senior and Dimitrius Underwood, who was an
All-American last year and is not participating due to injury this year.”
Senior guard Jalen Weber hit a season high with eight
assists at a Dec. 29 game against Blackburn, senior forward Hans Burwirtz was
named ASC East Division Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Jan. 6,
averaging 13.8 points and 10.3 rebounds this season. Senior guard Xavier
Ferrell has 35 assists this season and got 10 points at the team’s Jan. 4 match
against Mary-Hardin Baylor, bringing their win streak to five games.
Butterfield said that defense and rebounding make the biggest impact on whether
a team wins or loses a game.
“There are going to be nights where you shoot the ball
great, and everybody’s hitting shots, and then there’s going to be nights
where, you know, you can’t buy a basket,” Butterfield said. “And on those
nights when you’re struggling to make shots, that’s where your defense and your
rebounding have to really take a front and center role on your team.”
Butterfield said that the basketball team must grow upwards
and get better every day.
“What I want to be able to say is that look how far we’ve
come since December,” Butterfield said. “We have really climbed the stairs — we
have climbed that mountain — and we’re much better now than we ever were back
in December.”