Last Friday, the St. Edward's women's basketball team kept pace with the No. 14-ranked team in the nation, staying within eight points with a little more than five minutes remaining before the University of Tampa ended the game on a quick run to secure the victory.
It was a good snapshot of the early season for a team that's shown resilience in the face of adversity, with each obstacle a new learning experience to grow.
"We've had self-inflicted mistakes that have caused us a few losses, but it's led to an understanding where we have to handle everything in our control to be successful," St. Edward's head women's basketball coach J.J. Riehl says. "I think we're learning and growing every day. We've had two of our best practices this week, so our spirit and mindset are upbeat, and we'll be ready to go on Thursday."
On Thursday, the Hilltoppers open conference play against the Eastern New Mexico University Greyhounds (2-2), followed by a Saturday game against the Western New Mexico University Mustangs.
Typically, the pre-conference games serve as an opportunity to fine-tune concepts installed during training camp in preparation for conference play. However, St. Edward's losing its top two point guards right before the start of the season left the team scrambling to reorganize some of its personnel and responsibilities on the fly amid a 2-4 start in a season where continuity was supposed to be a strength.
RONNIE CANTU has taken the reins as the starting point guard, seeing her minutes and responsibilities more than double from her previous role of change-of-pace reserve guard a year ago. The junior out of Mission, Texas, has shown flashes, hitting clutch shots in a win over Texas Lutheran as she grows into the role.
"She's in an excellent place understanding it's about a growth mindset and understanding and learning from every new experience and opportunity she has," Riehl explains. "It's about understanding she creates the calmness or chaos for the entire team, and from game one to six, she's really worked on it, so I'm pleased with her. It's tough to get thrown into this new situation, and on top of that, she's a leader and captain, so there's a lot of new pressure, and I believe she's done a great job handling it."
The Hilltoppers have also seen promise from newcomer Jayda Ruffus-Milner, a transfer from Pepperdine stepping into a more prominent role with an all-around floor game.
"Jayda is still trying to figure it all out [in a new environment], but in games when she's shown up, as she did in the Tampa game, we really feed off it," Riehl says. "Now, it's about her understanding she has to bring that to every game. When you've had players who haven't had that expectation, you have to have patience and grace in their development process, and Jayda is getting better at that."
The Hilltoppers have shown improvement in different areas across its six games, even if growth isn't always linear. St. Edward's is buoyed by the drastic improvements it has shown during the second game of each week, incorporating quick adjustments and the steadiness of returners MORGAN GARY and SAMMIE DUFEK, who anchor the offense and defense.
Eastern New Mexico presents an excellent test to start conference play. Deja Adrian, a 5-foot-9 junior transfer from Blinn College, has opened the season on a tear, leading the conference in double-doubles while averaging 19.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game on 50 percent shooting. A slashing guard by nature, Adrian has started the year shooting a blistering 8-for-13 from deep to complement her drives to the rim.
St. Edward's has done a fantastic job of limiting opponents' top scorers, and the next stage in its defensive development will be containing without springing defensive leaks elsewhere.
On the other end, Eastern New Mexico employs a trapping halfcourt defensive scheme that leads the Lone Star in scoring defense (55.5 points allowed per game). The strength of its scheme lies more in its ability to speed up an offense outside its comfort zone, ranking 11th in turnovers forced (15.75 per game) but fourth in field goal percentage defense (34.9 percent).
Spacing and patience are critical, not just in terms of hitting outside shots, but in where each player is stationed on the floor in relation to each other, making every defensive rotation a difficult choice instead of allowing one defender to guard multiple players simultaneously.
St. Edward's can counter with playmaking from multiple positions, especially from Gary, who leads the team with 12 assists and has shown growth in using her downhill scoring threat to set up opportunities for teammates.
"Morgan has worked hard to be a better floor general, see the floor, and find open people," Riehl says. "And the thing about Morgan is she trusts her teammates. She invests in others. She understands by making those extra passes, they not only lead to a better shot, but it also shows her trust in her teammates."
Western New Mexico opens the week with a 2-3 record and will face St. Mary's on Thursday before its game against St. Edward's.
The Mustangs have cleaned up the glass, ranking fourth in the conference with 44.4 rebounds per game, outrebounding opponents by a second-best 13.8 boards per game. In addition, they feature a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging double-digits, led by guard Sydney Wright, a high-volume scorer averaging 14.8 points on 34.7 percent shooting, balanced inside by Diamond Moore's 13.8 points per game on 55.3 percent shooting and 6.5 rebounds per game.
"Saturday games are tough and early in conference with the game winnable for both teams, our will to win has to be greater than theirs," Riehl says. "It starts with Thursday. We must get off to better starts and give ourselves a chance."
