With only four games left in the regular season, the women’s basketball team secured a valuable 69-63 win over the Oklahoma Christian University (OCU) Eagles. The last Saturday home game of the season was a reason to celebrate Senior Day, acknowledging their two seniors Ainsley Thunell and Isabel Langenberg, and to pay a tribute to the 50th season of the program on the hilltop. The seniors were celebrated along with those on the men’s basketball team in between the two games, and the 50th anniversary team was unveiled during halftime, welcoming back several of the main players from over the years.

“There’s so many emotions that are going into it,” Thunell said. “It’s the 50th year, but it’s also Isabel and I’s senior night, so it’s just amazing. It’s a mix of emotions of excitement, sadness and gratefulness.”

With the ball in possession for the Eagles at tipoff, Hilltopper Ramsey Robledo started the defensive end with a rebound. Demonstrating the good communication from the team, the ball was passed to JP Perkins and then to Kiana Bennett, who scored a layup to start off the quarter. From there, the team continued to showcase their communication and precise passes at the key, as well as their defensive abilities on the opposite end of the court. However, the Eagles put up a fight, successfully capitalizing with three-pointers and layups. Oklahoma Christian’s Kate Bradley went on a 6-point run by herself, with two back-to-back threes to warm up the competition and to give the Eagles a 12-7 lead. The Hilltoppers had a consistent first quarter, shooting 50% of field goals, 2-for-5 from the 3-point line and 3-for-4 from free throws, and ended the quarter leading 21-16.

St. Edward’s had scoring issues in the second quarter, only scoring nine points compared to 16 from the Eagles. Mistakes happened on both sides, with six turnovers for the Hilltoppers and three for the Eagles. Capitalization from shooting fell to 23.1% for St. Edward’s, shooting 3-for-13 and 1-9 from the arc. Responsible for the nine points were Bailey Featherstone and Mikah Chapman from the paint, Perkins scoring two free throws and Chapman again to close off the quarter with a 3-pointer. For the Eagles, Nakia Cullom scored six of their 16 total points. 

During halftime, a video made by Hilltopper Athletics played on the screen, paying a tribute to the history of the program dating back to the 1974-75 season. The program selected five players and a coach to compose the celebratory team, inviting each of them to the court and gifting them with a special jersey with their college number and pictures of their career. The selected coach was David McKey, who was head coach from 1985 to 1994 and successfully led the Hilltoppers to eight-straight winning seasons. Throughout his years, McKey won six conference championships and still holds the record for most wins in school history, and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2014. The players chosen for the team were Taj McWilliams-Franklin — who could not attend the ceremony but is the best player in St. Edward’s women’s basketball history and only player to have their jersey number retired — Rhonda Darling, Kendra Harrell, Nichole Stroup (Wiatrek) and Shakera Barnes, who is currently the assistant coach for the team and still leads the program in assists per game. 

Coming back from the locker room, Bennett started scoring after being assisted by Perkins. The duo ended the game as the Hilltoppers’ highest scorers, with 17 for Bennett and 15 for Perkins. Featherstone came in with the third most points, 14 total. Thunell hit a fast break layup to start closing the gap for St. Edward’s at 37-34. The Eagles would answer immediately with a layup followed by a 3-pointer, both by Ciara Harris, but two points from Featherstone in the paint would spark up a 9-0 run, bringing the score to 44-42 after a Riley Moore 3-pointer. 

To start the last quarter, the score was at 47-46, favoring Oklahoma Christian. Chapman started with a mid-range shot, answered with an offensive rebound turned layup from the Eagles. Possession changes lead to a scoring drought after two successful free throws from OCU, until Perkins scored a layup after two offensive rebounds from Featherstone, bringing the score to 51-50 for the Eagles. Bennett answered with a 3-pointer, followed by a fast break layup from Featherstone. Missed shots from the Hilltoppers allowed the Eagles to score, but Perkins immediately answered with another layup, and then scored another two minutes later, giving SEU the 61-55 lead with a minute left. Free throws from Harris helped close the gap for OCU, but a 3-pointer from Bennett and successful free throws from both Thunell and Featherstone put an end to the game, securing a Hilltopper win.

“We were able to stay where our feet were,” head coach J.J. Riehl said. “We didn’t worry about the things we couldn’t control behind us or in front of us. I just thought we were really mature in how we handled things today.”

Once the final buzzer sounded and the Hilltoppers sealed their 69-63 win, Thunell and Langenberg received their honors for their careers on the hilltop. Similar to those who were a part of the 50th anniversary team, the two seniors received frames with a special jersey with their numbers and pictures of their time with the team. Their families joined them on the court, as well as Riehl, who has been with the team for 26 years — half of the program’s existence. 

“[I’m] incredibly humbled and honored that I still get to sit in that office and stand on that sideline and in front of those women in the locker room,” Riehl said. “It’s a lot of emotions but I think that those would be the overriding ones, just extremely honored.” 

The Hilltoppers will now travel to Eastern New Mexico University for their game on Feb. 20, and West Texas A&M University for a game on Feb. 22. Their last home game will be the classic Battle of the Saints against St. Mary’s University on Feb. 26, at 5:30 p.m. The women’s team is currently 11th in Lone Star Conference standings, with a 7-11 conference record and 11-16 overall. 

“We need other people to lose, and we need to go on a little run here and put some together in a row,” Riehl said. “It’s more about our process and understanding that it’s not always outcome driven. It’s more about continuing to grow in the ways that we need to continue to grow.”