COLUMBUS — Saturday was Senior Day for the Mississippi University for Women basketball teams, facing off against Spalding University in their respective regular-season finales.
Both teams lost to the Golden Eagles, but the Owls men’s team will advance to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Quarterfinals on Wednesday after securing a top-four finish in the final standings.
The Owls women’s team needed to win to make the postseason, with Spalding occupying the sixth and final spot in the conference tournament. A victory against the Golden Eagles earlier in the season would have given the Owls a tiebreaker in the event of their victory on Saturday, but it wasn’t to be.
Women
The Owls came out of the gates slow in the must-win game, falling behind 14-4 midway through the first quarter. Quay Dorrough established some presence inside off the bench, scoring a couple of buckets and hitting 3-4 from the line in the first half. However, the team trailed 37-29 going into the break.
The normally prolific Conley Langford was held to just three points on 1-9 shooting with suffocating defense around her. T.K. Jones led the way with 12 points while Kymani Smith and Dorrough each added eight.
The Owls’ chances of reaching the tournament were hampered by an injury to top scorer Calysia Phillips, but the team pushed for the goal with three wins in the final six games.
“I’m so proud of this group,” Langford said after the defeat. “There were a lot of odds against us, but we continued coming to work every day, trying to get better. I think we kept fighting as hard as we could. I’m proud of us as a team for that.”
It was an emotional end for the seniors, and a moment to reflect on their role in building a young program.
“I’m very thankful to God for allowing me and my teammates to play here,” Langford said. “I’ve made some of the best memories and friendships I could have ever found here, and I’ll always be thankful for that.”
At 8-17, this was the winningest season for the program since 2018-19, the first year with sports back at the W when head coach Howard White led the Owls to the USCAA National Championship. First-year head coach Eric Vaughn led the team to a 7-11 finish in SLIAC play and has a foundation to build on for next year, a year that may include a key returner from this year’s senior class.
“I think that W women’s basketball has a bright future,” Langford said. “I’m trying to see if I can get my next year back, I’m hoping that happens.”
Men
Head coach Dean Burrows’ Owls men’s team got off to a good start against the SLIAC leaders Spalding on Saturday. The team shot out to an early 15-4 lead before the scoring slowed down. They led 23-22 at the halftime break, but couldn’t keep pace in the second half as the Golden Eagles pulled away to win, 57-47.
It was a frustrating end, and though Burrows secured their place in the postseason before tip-off, They were looking for more focus down the stretch.
“It’s not even about the performance, we’ve got guys banged up but everybody is this time of year, and those guys over there today did a good job stepping up,” Burrows said. “They have the player of the year, in my opinion, but they have guys hurt too and they stepped up. The difference in the game is eight points, we missed six free throws. That’s always the difference between success and not. We outrebounded them, we did some good things but just six assists, and the ball isn’t moving enough. That’s selfishness and that’s on me to correct that.”
The Owls (12-13, 9-9 SLIAC) finished as the No. 4 seed in the conference and will face Eureka College in the SLIAC tournament. This record is a strong improvement from the 3-15 conference record a year ago and a sign of improvement defensively for the Owls.
The Owls showcased that defense for stretches against the first-place Golden Eagles, but the visitors showed why they’re in first place.
The Owls will try to extend their season on Wednesday at Eureka, playing to make history in the program’s second year in the conference as well as a chance for the seniors to stay together for one more game.
“They’re great young men who have always represented us the right way,” Burrows said of the seniors. “We have more work to do, we talked about it from the beginning, it’s one more practice, one more bus ride, one more opportunity. They’ve done their job to get to that point this season, now it’s about getting another one.”
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