With the season at an end and the towels hanging, the noises from the fans on the court seemed to diminish after the women’s basketball team took home a final victory against the Cuesta College Cougars.
Head Coach Thara Innocent reflected on her goals from this past season.
“My goals for this season was to make it to the playoffs and possibly win the championship because I felt like we had enough talent and skill,” Innocent said. “In midseason, three of my starters had season-ending injuries so that kind of made a change to our team dynamics, and unfortunately we were not able to make it to the next round.”
Derricka Millinghaus, freshman point and post guard for the Brahmas last season, got injured in an away game against Cerritos College. With her recovery going smoothly, she looks forward to participating more in the upcoming season.
“I’m recovering quicker than normal so I should definitely be ready by the time it comes,” she said, explaining she had a torn ACL and meniscus.
Miracle Millinghaus, sister to Derricka Millinghaus and freshman shooting guard for the Brahmas last season who was injured in the same game, talked about what games she wishes she could’ve been in to help the Brahmas score.
“All the games really, I feel like I could’ve helped a lot, I feel like we would have gone to the playoffs if we were not hurt,” Miracle Millinghaus said. “We would have been still number one, because we were number one in the conference before the injury. We were 9-2 and then the injury happened and then it just messed up the flow.”
The Brahmas had a record of 15-13 this season, 10 of those wins at home. Throughout the season, Innocent noticed improvement from the team.
“I definitely feel we did have improvements through the season with different individuals, some people still have some work to do but I definitely see the improvement as a group and a team,” Innocent said.
Sophomore point and post guard Chassen Gutierrez was honored for her skills throughout the season, being named a member of the 1st team Western State Conference. Yet, she did not feel that being named on the 1st team really changed the opportunities she was given.
“I was definitely looked at quite a bit throughout the season. I am not 100 percent sure if that list had something to do with maybe more people reaching out,” Gutierrez said. “We did have a sophomore showcase recently so I think I grabbed about four opportunities there as well, but I am pretty sure that they were looking at me throughout the season.”
Innocent also mentioned how proud she was of Gutierrez and her accomplishment.
“I am very proud of her she worked hard, she is a transfer from another school so I was very glad to see that she was able to get that accomplishment and it is going to help open doors for her to get to the next level to possibly get a scholarship somewhere or advance with her basketball career,” Innocent said.
With the women’s basketball season beginning again in November, new athletes will fill in the shoes of the sophomores who will be gone next year.
“Be ready, be serious, work hard, stay humble, keep your grades up and be ready to work,” Innocent said.
With a new season coming up, Innocent’s aim to win the championship remains the same.
“I definitely want to win the league and move onto the next level,” Innocent said.
Innocent’s other goals include recruiting enough talent, making sure the team’s academics are in good standing and getting a motivated coaching staff that is “self driven” to help alleviate the workload.
“If we have everything aligned as far as having everyone disciplined as a core group, have my staff disciplined and have the athletes disciplined, then that will give me a better opportunity to get to the next level,” Innocent said. “Just find people that are serious about what they want to do, and serious about basketball and serious about their jobs.”
