FAU women’s basketball senior forward Dalita Scott says the team may get a banner for its appearance in the WNIT.
They hope the final score is in small print.
It was a historic season for FAU women’s basketball. With an 11-5 record in the conference, they won the most games ever in the Sun Belt. The Owls won a game in the Sun Belt Conference tournament for the first time ever with a 56-55 victory over North Texas, before bowing out to UALR in the semifinals. But then the Owls made history in the wrong way, getting crushed 76-20 in the WNIT to host USF. The 20 points were the least ever scored by FAU in school history.
Players mentioned how terrible they felt for their coach after an already tough year for Chancellor Dugan. Her mother passed away hours before a game against FIU earlier this year. A game she’d coached in.
“She put her heart in it the whole season,” sophomore guard Latavia Dempsey said. “To end it this way for her was tough.”
“I really wish we could have won it for her because she’s done so much for us this season, always being the one to push us forward,” sophomore guard Kimberly Smith said. “But she knows that we went out there and gave it our all. We fought this whole year with a lot of negative things.”
Afterward, the locker room was virtually silent, aside from the sounds of sobbing. Smith admitted to crying and mentioned others were too.
“Right after the game, we were very emotional and very sad, but after coach talked to us, we thought about it, and we were okay,” Smith said. “But it still took a toll on us.”
FAU missed 50 of 58 shots, for a percentage of 13.8. The Owls had just eight points at halftime and missed 18 out of 20 3s in the game.
“It was just one of those nights. One of those terrible nights,” Dempsey said. “We couldn’t hit anything.”
“Never in my life,” Scott said of ever being a part of a game with just 20 points total.
Walking off the court for the final time, the senior said she was not emotional, but regrets the way the season ended.
“It hit me. This was my last time ever playing basketball,” Scott said. “I just wish we had a better outcome because that one was terrible. I gave it my all. But, basketball got me where I needed to be. I was able to accomplish my goals.”
Dempsey said she is hurt that the team sent the seniors out in blowout fashion.
“I was just upset that the seniors had to end their career that way,” Dempsey said. “We really worked hard all year. I just didn’t want them to lose that way.”
