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Unfinished business remains for record-setting WBB squad
ROME – He saw them achieve every goal they had,
saved for one.
As Shorter University head women’s basketball coach Vic Mitchell looks back on the 2010-11 season, his 21st year at the helm of the Lady Hawks, that one goal that was unattainable – winning a first round game at the NAIA National Championship – is very much within reach as the team has already set higher standards for the future.
“We did have a better season, but just couldn’t advance in the tournament like we wanted to,” Mitchell, this year’s Southern States Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, said about the Lady Hawks’ drive to a 24-8 record – the program’s fourth straight 20-plus win season – and a second straight trip to the national tournament where Shorter was stopped by a strong Freed-Hardeman squad.
“Still, it was a great reward for a good season, being able to go back to the national tournament,” the coach said. “The next step we have to take as far as our goal is to have that 25 or 26-win season and if you do that, it means you have advanced at the national tournament.
“Our goals up to a point have been met, but now winning the division in our conference, the conference tournament, returning to the national tournament and advancing – that’s exciting to have those kinds of goals.”
What’s also exciting is the fact that every single player on this year’s senior-less roster will have the chance next year to accomplish what eluded her this season.
“Everyone has the opportunity to come back,” said Mitchell. “It’s true that most every season what you have coming back determines how well you’ll do. You could have the leadership, the experience or your leading scorers. Next year, we’ve got all of those things.”
Two of the biggest feathers the Lady Hawks will have in their cap come in the form of 2011 NAIA All-America honorable mention selections Kelly Ellison and Damisha Moore.
Ellison, who as a junior claimed her second straight All-America honor this season, joins former Shorter standout Katarina Martinovic as Shorter's only two-time All-Americans. She ranked second on the team in scoring at 10.3 points a game while leading the Lady Hawks in assists (5.4) and steals (2.0) per game.
She also ranked fifth in the country in total assists (173) while her assist average was seventh best in the NAIA. Ellison’s 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked No. 23 in nation.
Moore, a junior who transferred to Shorter after playing two seasons at the University of Miami, led the Lady Hawks in scoring and rebounding, putting up 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds a game. She shot just under 50 percent for the season – her 219 shot attempts were second only to Ellison's 272 – and knocked down a team-high 44 percent of her 3-point shots.
In addition to their national honors, the two Lady Hawks also led a parade of teammates into the postseason awards spotlight.
While Ellison and Moore received All-SSAC honors, sophomore Ashley Harris was named to the SSAC's All-East Division team, Chelsi Matthews was named Shorter's Champions of Character award winner in the conference and eight Lady Hawks were selected to the SSAC All-Academic team: Ellison, Harris, Matthews, Allison Danner, Shelby Farrer, Aiste Pranciliauskaite, Megan Queen and Brittney Smith.
The academic excellence of Smith and Ellison also led to their selection as NAIA Scholar-Athletes, the first such honor for the pair.
Having excelled on the court and in the classroom, the Lady Hawks showed they were a team in more ways than one.
After Shorter claimed the SSAC's Sportsmanship Award for the third consecutive season, the Lady Hawks were awarded the NAIA National Champions of Character Team Award, the third time in the last four year that a Shorter athletic team has claimed the prestigious honor – baseball won the award last spring while Shorter’s softball team took home the honor in 2008.
“That was really special and I told the team that it was the highest honor I’ve had, seeing the team receive that award,” said Mitchell. “That alone capped off a very good season.”
Still, the coach felt that the team was in good position to accomplish securing that elusive first national tourney win.
Although the Lady Hawks wound up being handed a 78-62 defeat by the second-seeded and No. 7 ranked Lady Lions, Shorter stayed within striking distance until the waning minutes of the game where Freed-Hardeman, which was led by NAIA Player of the Year Meribeth Boehler’s double-double of 30 points and 13 rebounds, wrapped up the win at the foul line.
“We never thought we were overwhelmed or outmatched and we knew we’d be up against the national player of the year,” Mitchell said, noting that defensively Shorter concentrated on stopping the 6-foot-3 Boehler by double-teaming her. “We just left ourselves open.
“We ran into a very, very good team,” the coach added about Freed, which won its next two games by more than 20 points and advanced to the NAIA Fab Four where it was stopped by eventual national champion Azusa Pacific.
At the same time, Mitchell saw a very, very confident Lady Hawk squad take the national court, a sight that he feels will help for what can be bigger and better accomplishments.
“I could tell a difference in the way they carried themselves at the tournament this year,” said Mitchell. “They felt as if they really belonged there and that was encouraging.
“We’ve got a ton of work to do to get back there and we’ll do it.”
