Women’s basketball team participates; beats Ogelthorpe, loses to Trinity

Ward Sutlive, Campus Carrier sports editor

Cole Baggett, Campus Carrier asst. sports editor

In 2024, the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) met and discussed which college should host the 2026 SAA basketball championship tournament. After some debate, they decided that the best candidate was Berry College. According to Director of Athletics Angel Mason, while this was a huge honor, hosting an SAA tournament turned out to be a very labor-intensive process. 

“It’s really important to me that we do an amazing job hosting because these students that are attending will remember these games 20 years from now,” Mason said. 

According to Mason, there are several considerations, benefits and drawbacks that go into hosting an SAA game. One good thing about hosting an event this popular is that it provides exposure for Berry and Rome. Several people from all over the country attended, including the families and friends of the athletes that participated in the championship. They all booked hotels and ate at local restaurants, which led to additional commerce for Rome. Additionally, many parents and students were able to learn more about Berry, which may lead to even more students attending the school.

“This is good visibility, and it gives people a chance to see our campus and how we do things,” Mason said. “I think it’s really important for them to see what we do and who we are here.” 

Housing was another challenge that Mason and the athletics department had to overcome. As hosts, it was their responsibility to find decent hotels for the visiting players. Mason and her department reached out to their contacts with the city of Rome and reserved rooms at hotels around the area. This essentially reserved the rooms for the players attending and allowed the teams to take up five  different hotels. 

“We’re responsible for the overall administrative support that allows the championship to take place,” Mason said. “Luckily we have a bunch of our department members that are not in season helping us, so it’s a team effort.” 

After figuring out what to do about hotels, the athletic department’s next step was coming up with a way to have storage for all of the teams. This problem was fixed by using the MAC gymnasium and the Cage Center’s locker rooms. To increase space, they briefly shut down Berry student access to the fitness center, the pool and the additional locker rooms within. The athletic department also borrowed several different classrooms and used each one for a different purpose. Some were used for post-game interviews and media rooms, while others were makeshift specialty rooms for officials who wanted a moment’s peace and quiet away from spectators. 

“I’m really excited for us to be known as great hosts and am looking forward to seeing our students come out and support the women’s basketball team,” Mason said. 

The women’s basketball team qualified for the tournament. They faced an uphill battle, having to deal with several challenges and complications before their first tournament game even began. 

The main problem was that the team was coming off of a season where multiple players sustained a variety of injuries, many of which took a long time to recover from. While all the players ended up being able to participate in the season, it was still a stressful ordeal for the team. By the time that the SAA championship began, players were ready for the championship. Johnson also saw several of his players step up admist the chaos, and filling in for the injured players to become true leaders. This string of injuries have also caused many players to strengthen the bonds that they have with one another. Many players, such as sophomore power forward Briaiah Lewis, eagerly anticipated the game. 

“I love playing with the people I have around me,” Lewis said. “And all of the hard work that we have put in makes me really proud of us for everything that we’ve done so far, no matter how the season ends.” 

Despite the scale of the tournament, Lewis made sure to maintain a level-headed mindset. She hopes to contribute a calming presence to the rest of her team, encouraging them to take one step at a time. Lewis emphasizes that there is no added pressure during these games and that the team’s preparation time studying their upcoming opponents will speak for itself.  

“I think our identity mainly revolves around defense, and I think that as long as we continue to defend and hold teams back, we will have a really good chance of beating other teams,” Lewis said. 

Thomas Johnson, head coach of the  women’s basketball team, considered these final few games to be very bittersweet since so many of the senior players are graduating this year.  He made sure to tailor the team’s recent practices for their first championship game of the season against Oglethorpe University.  One of the key focuses of those practices was maintaining a routine in order to make up for the irregular season that the team had, which has mainly been achieved by the team’s pre-game dinners. 

   “We try to eat as both a team and a family,” Johnson said. “Our pre-game meals are a way for our team to get together and connect, no matter where we are playing.”

The team had faced off against Oglethorpe University twice already this season, winning their second match after a loss in the first. Johnson believed that the team’s defensive playing — something he considers to be one of their greatest strengths — was a major factor of that victory. Both Johnson and Lewis were confident that this past experience with Oglethorpe was also something that they could use to their advantage. 

“There aren’t a lot of secrets in this game,” Johnson said. “So, knowing what our opponents strengths, weaknesses and tendencies are helps us prepare both defensively and offensively so that we know what we can do better against them.”

While the women’s basketball team beat Oglethorpe University on Thursday, they lost to Trinity University Friday. Because of this, the team could not make it to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament. Despite that loss, many of the players as well as coach Johnson were happy to have hosted the SAA championship.

“This is the first time that we’ve hosted since I’ve been the head coach here, and it’s fun when you can play at home” Johnson said.