Thoughts of a D1 Athlete

I want to express my gratitude to the coaches for encouraging me to be the greatest version of myself both on and off the court and for believing in me. I met this staff at the beginning of my sophomore year, around the time I had surgery, and they could have easily put me on the back burner. Rather, they were extremely kind and helped me with my entire recovery. Even though I was going through a lot, they showed me that they still had faith in me and only wanted the best for me.  I was fortunate to have the opportunity to develop so many long-term relationships with them. A big thank you to Coach Arm for being my life coach in addition to my basketball coach. Playing under her has taught me so much, and I can't say how lucky I am to have someone on my side who shared my vision and believed in it as much as she did. She has been there for me through some truly difficult times. So, thank you for always being there to lend a helping hand when I needed it. In summary, I express my gra

 All of my teammates have set out on a new journey, whether they choose to stay or go. I realize that there are certain people I will never see again after school ends. To help me get used to not seeing them every day, I try keeping my distance from them in order to filter off the emotions. That's my go-to coping strategy in situations like these for a very long time. It's unjust since I should want to see them as frequently as possible, but it also makes life easier. Although I've told myself it will be fine, I know in my heart that it will hurt in the end. The most comforting thing for me is knowing that no matter where they go—whether it's across the globe or only a few hours away—I will always be happy for them. I make an effort to have a good time with the ladies every weekend and take as many pictures as I can to preserve the memories. And that's exactly what we do! This is most likely one of our best off-seasons to date. I will always be appreciative of the w

 Callie Ziebell is the most recent student-athlete to join our roster of athletes who have entered the transfer portal! She received recognition from the MVC lately for being the recipient of the Third Team Scholar-Athlete Award and the State Farm Good Neighbor Award. Majoring in education, Callie enjoys working with younger students. Callie is a junior playing at the center spot from Sparta, Wisconsin (as she would say in her Wisconsin accent). When we came in together as freshmen up until now, I grew to know Callie and find her the sweetest. Whether it's her talking about the kids at her school, the well-known cheese in Wisconsin, her plants, or even her new nails for the week, I've always been intrigued. I hope her new destination keeps that big smile on her face and allows her to love the game again that she's been playing for many years. Gook Luck, Callahan.

  What's going on with the Bradley Women's Basketball team?  After a struggling season, a lot of players were faced with the question of whether should they stay or should they go. Many thought long and hard and others knew exactly what they wanted. Each player had an end-of-the-year meeting with the coaches where they told them whether they were entering the portal or not. Many left out of the office with tears and others with excitement for their upcoming future. Although I chose to stay, I'm extremely proud of all of the girls who impacted our team and plan on doing that elsewhere as well. Reagan Barkema, a knockdown shooter from Iowa has the most sweetest and genuine heart. When it comes to competing, she wants to help her teammates in every way possible to achieve success. Whether that's in the game knocking down 3's and snagging rebounds or simply coaching them up from the bench. Isis Fitch is the most competitive and hardworking player I've run into durin

       Here's a picture from our senior night to once again highlight our amazing seniors! Once again, congratulations, and we wish them the best in their upcoming chapter. I appreciate you all!      To honor the best athletes in our conference, the MVC hosted a formal event. Following a delicious dinner, they presented us with a number of awards for various accomplishments, including the All-Defensive team, the Scholar-Athlete award, the All-Newcomer team, and many more. Halli Poock, who was named to the third team and All-Freshman team, performed impressively for the Braves. Despite not receiving any recognition at the banquet, Callie was awarded the State Farm Good Neighbor award and placed third among Scholar-Athletes. Her work in the classroom has established her as a standout student within the MVC. Majoring in education, Callie adores the children!      We had another chance to secure our place in the MVC tournament on March 14th when we took on the Murray State Racers. Give

 The Lady Braves take on the Belmont Bruins in the Renaissance Coliseum today at 6:00 p.m. We lost our most recent game against them, 47-89. The shoot-around we did that day gave us a good idea of how the game would play out. Coach Pop kept bringing up how uninspiring the energy was. The fact that we were 5-21 in the first quarter is proof enough that we were unprepared. We haven't played well in the first quarter since that game. But when asked, we never know what the problem is, so we go into a hole from which we can never escape. Aside from the game, we had a great time when we traveled to Nashville. Bradley supporters Dave and Amy DeFreitas invited us for a team dinner and following the team went downtown to explore Nashville. It was a beautiful site to see and the food was amazing.  The Murray State Racers will be the next team we will welcome on Saturday at 2pm in the Renaissance Coliseum. We are honoring our four seniors, Ruba, Daija, Isis, and Tete, with this very special