In the first week of the season, the women’s basketball team has gone 2-1, with a three-point loss to Stephen F. Austin University in the team’s most recent game. 

Meredith Mayes, sophomore center from Bixby, Oklahoma, led the team in scoring against SFA with 20 points and 13 rebounds. 

Another key contributor against the Lumberjacks was Natalia Chavez, junior guard from Cochiti, New Mexico, who added nine points to the team’s total. 

Chavez said her success comes from always being ready to shoot whenever she gets the opportunity. 

“I’m a shooter,” Chavez said. “I love shooting the ball. I’ve always got to be ready for the shot.”

Chavez shot 1-2 from the three-point line in Tuesday’s loss, but the team shot 6-31 from the three-point line altogether. 

Head Coach Julie Goodenough said her team will continue to shoot threes even if they are not making a high percentage. 

“This is a team that’s going to shoot,” she said. “We invest so much time and shooting threes we don’t turn down open three-point shots.”

Part of Chavez’s mentality is giving her all whenever she goes out on the court, which is part of the reason why she has scored 34 points in the team’s three games so far this season. 

“Leave it all out there on the floor and never just be like, ‘I’m just going to give a little now and save it for later,’” she said. 

Goodenough said she has seen this intensity play out in the team’s defense this season, which has been improved with the addition of Assistant Coach Yannick Denson from the College of Charleston. 

“I do think our players are really trying to play more aggressive on-ball defense, more aggressive help-side defense,” she said. “Everyone on the team has to buy into their defensive roles each possession.”

The team will look to bounce back against the University of North Texas at noon on Saturday. 

Goodenough said the team will have to improve on blocking out against the Mean Green from UNT and play more aggressively throughout the game.

“We have to continue to stress taking care of the ball,” she said. “I mean, we’ve got to outwork people.”