Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
".....life is defined by time and seasons....."
Defeated. That was the look that all three student-athletes and the head coach of the uconn huskies was giving the moment they had entered the press conference room, after a devastating loss to a decent Ohio State team just a few minutes ago.
As she sat there, quietly, beside her head coach, with her shoulders slumped over in defeat, every reporter in that conference room could see the dejected look written all over Samaria Owens face—as she unintentionally forced her teammates to answer any and all questions that were being directed to them.
With her gaze locked on the official stat sheet from this evening's game, she simply overlooked the 30-point triple-double performance of hers, and focused solely on the final score of the recently ended game. 61-73.
Feeling herself getting more down—upset even over this loss, the student-athlete couldn't help but shake her head as she unknowingly gained her head coach's attention. As her head coach's hand shot out and made contact with the top of her back, he briefly patted his star forward on her shoulder blade, trying his best to comfort her.
Coach Auriemma knew that these last few years has been extremely tough for the twenty-one year-old.
In the last three seasons, this uconn huskies team has consistently came up short in the race for a national championship due to them having a shorten roster because of injuries. Which resulted in a couple of players to play heavy minutes throughout the years.
With the do-it-all forward being one of those players, she was forced to shoulder the burden of carrying this team, offensively and defensively for the past two seasons.
"Samaria, this question is for you." Blinking softly at the sound of someone directing their question to her, the student-athlete had briefly searched the crowd, looking for the reporter who was speaking to her.
As the reporter gained everyone's attention as he raised his hand, and waved it around to ensure that the student-athlete saw him, Samaria simply arched an eyebrow—and waited for the man to introduce himself. "Howard McDonald, with NXT."
"Samaria, in the last three years, injuries had hit this team in bunches and in each of those three years, your team has came up short in the race for a national championship. Whether it's in the final four, or in the national championship game, or now in the sweet sixteen—how do you,"
Shaking his head as he took a brief moment to gather his thoughts, the male reporter had stared at the highly decorated college junior—who has managed to rack up a bus load of awards and accolades just this season alone. "how do you, personally, plan to use these losses—this loss in particular as you head into the offseason?"
"Uhm, just," shrugging her shoulders lightly. "just try to use this feeling as motivation. Obviously, every loss is hard to swallow. Hard to experience and watch over, but every loss has a lesson and it's up to the players in how they're going to respond to those lessons."
As she shrugged her shoulders once more, Samaria briefly glanced back down at the stat sheet and shook her head before she looked back up, and sent the male reporter a determined look. "Me, thisteam—this entire program, we're a resilient group and we will learn from this loss."
"And we will be ready for next season."
✫
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
