For the first time in St. Edward’s University history, the women’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament as the eighth seed in the South Central Region.

While the team’s dreams of winning a national championship were cut short after they lost in the first round to first seed West Texas A&M University on March 14, the Hilltoppers put up a fight against the Lady Buffaloes. In the end they were unable to close the gap late in the game and lost by a final score of 90-72. All five starting players scored in double digits, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the combined 49 points of the Buffaloes’ top two players and the rest of the team’s contributions. 

Head coach J.J. Riehl said that the past two weeks have been a blur and that the team surprised a lot of people.

“Everyone is like ‘Oh, St. Ed’s first time in the tournament. They are going to be scared and…come out and not be able to handle the situation.’ That wasn’t the case at all,” Riehl said.

Junior Maddie Wheeler described going to the NCAA tournament as a dream come true.

“We set a goal at the beginning of the season to get there, made a lot of sacrifices to set ourselves up for success and trusted in each other and our coaches to get there,” Wheeler said.

Despite losing in the tournament, the Hilltoppers’ 2013-2014 season will be one for the record books. The team had their best season in nearly 15 years and went to the national tournament for the first time in school history. Since Labor Day, the team has been practicing and conditioning nearly everyday. Players were only given a week off during the winter break. The team agrees that all the hard work and sacrifices paid off.

The team finished the regular season tied for second place in the Heartland Conference, and made a run in the conference tournament, 

beating the top seeded Texas A&M International and rival St. Mary’s in an overtime thriller. The winning team of the conference tournament received an automatic bid to the national tournament.

Riehl said that the conference tournament win was a memorable moment in her life.

“I can’t put it into words what if felt like, for that buzzer to go off and to know that we had done that, and in the process we had done it beating St. Mary’s,” Riehl said.

Mileka Loydrake, who was named M.V.P. of the Heartland Conference Tournament, was excited for the win.

“It was a surreal feeling beating St. Mary’s in the championship. To get that monkey off our backs and finally put an end to their streak was something I’m sure myself nor any of my teammates will ever forget,” Loydrake said.

A few of St. Edward’s players were named to the All-Heartland Conference team. Maddie Wheeler was named to the first team, while teammates Loydrake and Erika Rousculp recieved honorable mention. Wheeler led the team in steals and scoring with 16.3 points per game. Loydrake, who is in her first season at the Hilltop, averaged 14.1 points per game and shot 42 percent from the field. Rousculp received her second honorable mention to the conference team, and led the team in rebounding.

A notable player missing from the conference awards was Stephanie Dekkers, who led the conference in assists and was ranked 11th in the nation for assists. Coach Riehl was happy for her players, but emphasized it was a team effort when it came to winning.

“It was disappointing to me that the coaches didn’t recognize her one, year and her performance but two, the meaning of her to our team,” Riehl said. “Everyone is equal. And we weren’t really based around superstars. And that’s why we were able to reload.”

The women’s overall record stands at 19-9, which is two more wins than the last two seasons combined. The Hilltoppers will look like a different team next season. There are six seniors and  two other players that won’t be returning to the team. Coach Riehl expects to recruit to five new players to the team by the end of next month. Regardless of who is on the squad next season, the bar has been set high.