St. Edward's women's basketball had the 14-5 Angelo State Rambelles on the ropes for 36 minutes during its Jan. 25 home game, tapping into its deep reservoir of potential to extend a double-digit lead late into the third quarter before fading late to snap its three-game win streak. 
 
The moment was a microcosm of the season, showing glimpses of the program's promising future muddled and hampered by its current lack of experience. In short, the Hilltoppers suffered growing pains.
 
"We're so young relative to the rest of the Lone Star Conference. Ainsley was our only player with more than one year of experience playing," St. Edward's Head Women's Basketball Coach J.J. Riehl explains. "We had multiple conference games where one possession made all the difference, but we couldn't get that key stop or make the shot to tie the game and ended up losing by 3-5 points.
 
"Then, there were three or four games we were firmly in control of and couldn't close it out, coming out of the locker room flat and losing big first-half leads. All of that is the result of inexperience. Winning in this league is difficult and even more challenging when you're new to it."
 
St. Edward's returned three upperclassmen from the previous season, leaning on role players like seniors AINSLEY THUNELL, ISABEL LANGENBERG, and junior MIKAH CHAPMAN for experienced leadership and underclassmen like sophomore all-conference players J.P. and BAILEY FEATHERSTONE for the bulk of its shot creation.
 
J.P. turned in another stellar season, earning All-LSC Second Team honors after averaging 13.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.9 assists per game, ranking third in the conference in assists and steals per game and ninth in points per game.
 
Her ability to break down her defender gives St. Edward's a high ceiling. There isn't a more dynamic dribble in the LSC. However, to raise the program's floor and create more sustainable success, learning to harness that within an offense that can consistently manipulate the entire defense is needed.
 
"Being a point guard is challenging, especially when you're a score-first point guard. It's even more demanding when you're the team's best player. Sometimes J.P. balances it very well; other times, she struggles," Riehl says. "She's in the top 10 in scoring, assists, and steals in the nation's best conference at 5-foot-3. When J.P. is locked in, she's excellent. She still needs some maturing to be our leader, not taking plays off and making that final step from the status quo to being a winner. The summer between your sophomore and junior years is when you go from being a kid to an adult, and we're looking for that leap from her." 
 
St. Edward's brought in two transfers to start next to J.P., junior KIANA BENNETT, and sophomore RAMSEY ROBLEDO. The duo provided a spacing element the Hilltoppers haven't had recently. Bennett is a sweet-shooting guard with a quick first step and even quicker hands. She ranked fifth in the LSC in 3-pointers made and second in 3-point percentage, averaging 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game, reaching 1,000 career points and earning All-LSC Honorable Mention.  Robledo has good size for the wing, limitless range, and a burgeoning floor game to attack closeouts and serve as a secondary playmaker. 
 
"This is the first time we've had a couple of excellent shooters in a while, and we needed to figure out a better balance for them," Riehl exclaims. "Our team operated outside in, so defenses could concentrate on taking that away, and we couldn't punish them. Sometimes, there weren't enough quality shots. Maybe I didn't do a great job helping them to good starts, but it's a good problem to have and one we haven't had the luxury of in recent years. Our priority now has to be getting someone inside to free them up more." 
 
The trio was enough for St. Edward's to hold its own through a brutal opening month of the season, facing four nationally-ranked teams and taking three down to the wire, staying within a possession or two in the closing minutes against No. 4 Tampa, No. 11 Gannon, and No. 19 Lubbock Christian. The Hilltoppers also swept Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponents Regis and Colorado School of Mines while hosting a South Central Regional Crossover and a road game against Westminster. 
 
The highlight was a dominant defensive performance keyed by J.P. locking down point guard Emma Sixta, forcing turnovers, and disrupting Mines' offense. Behind her, the frontcourt of MIKAH CHAPMAN and AINSLEY THUNELL blocked shots and drew charges. The combination gives St. Edward's a recipe for success when dialed in. 
 
"Defensively, there's no better on-ball defender in the conference than J.P. when she wants to be. She fights through screens, plays physical, and despite being one of the smaller guards in the conference, she rebounds with the best of them," Riehl exclaims. "And Ainsley goes into every game undersized against the best post players and held her own. She gave us a chance every game."
 
St. Edward's put itself in a better position in most games than its final record indicates, opening double-digit leads against Midwestern State, Cameron, Angelo State, and St. Mary's. The Hilltoppers also had halftime leads against No. 11 Gannon, No. 19 Lubbock Christian, Texas A&M International, No. 7 UT Tyler, West Texas A&M, and St. Mary's. 
 
"We played four nationally-ranked teams in November, one of which was in conference, so it was a demanding start to the schedule," Riehl says. "But those games should prepare you for the games you can win in January when you're playing against an evenly-matched team in a 50-50 game. Those are the games you look back on, knowing if we handled our business, it's an entirely different season. We didn't seize opportunities to execute and win, so those are the lessons we need to learn moving forward." 
 
The Hilltoppers did find momentum in a three-game winning streak in late January, picking up wins over Oklahoma Christian, Cameron, and a blowout victory over Texas Permian Basin.
For two weeks, St. Edward's found the right balance to become more significant than the sum of its parts. The second unit coalesced around Featherstone, who earned All-LSC Honorable Mention, utilizing her as a go-to scorer at the elbows to carry the offensive burden when J.P. went to the bench. These adjustments streamlined the roles of backup point guard RILEY MOORE and reserve center JASMYN JACKSON, as did moving senior ISABEL LANGENBERG exclusively to power forward, amplifying the impact of her outside shooting and energy.
 
"The Oklahoma trip was a massive week for us, especially after the two-game road trip at UT Tyler and TWU. It was some of the most fun we had all year. Ainsley was out, we had to shuffle people around, but the team was resilient," Riehl says. "Then, we were steadily in control against Angelo State but let the game slip away, and our momentum went with it. It was a transformative week for our group, and we felt like we were making a push and peaking at the right time, but we just couldn't keep it going." 
 
St. Edward's put it all together for one more game, celebrating Senior Day and the program's 50th anniversary with a 69-63 victory over Oklahoma Christian behind a dominant fourth quarter, using all the lessons the team struggled with earlier in the season to give Langenberg and Thunell the sendoff they deserve. 
 
"What made this year so difficult is we didn't get those two into the conference tournament. When people give you what Izzy and Ainsley gave us, you feel like you've let them down when you can't reward them with that experience," Riehl laments. "Sometimes sports don't seem fair because you can have players do everything right and treat the game with the proper respect, but it doesn't always equal a win." 
 
St. Edward's will return most of its roster next season, fielding six seniors and three juniors. More importantly, the Hilltoppers enter the summer knowing where those games got away and what lessons must be learned to move past them. 
 
"We have to get tougher mentally and more resilient. Too often, we let a missed shot, turnover, or defensive breakdown change the game's trajectory," Riehl says. "My job now is to instill a little more hatred for losing and create some fire. We need to be more accountable for where we are and say uncomfortable things that will help us take the next step in our growth process." 
 
Fortunately, the thing about growing pains is, eventually, you outgrow them.