Shorthanded all season due to COVID-19 outbreaks, Stillman women's basketball stuck together

The Stillman College women's basketball team was dealt a bad hand to begin its 2021-2022 season. After coming off Christmas break, several members of the squad contracted COVID-19 and it spread through the program.

"I had five or six players with COVID and all had lingering effects after COVID. Some of those kids had to spend an extra week out because of those effects," said coach Alico Dunk.

The Lady Tigers missed practices and games due to the virus. Dunk's assistant coaches practiced with the team multiple times to fill the void of players.

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"We haven’t had our full team since the beginning of the year," Dunk said. "In most cases, we had only seven or eight players in practice. If you don’t have enough people to get up and down the floor, you can never find the rhythm that gets you ready for games."

The Tigers have been forced to practice and play shorthanded since the start of the new year, yet they remained optimistic.

"We took a bad hit, but we weathered the storm really well," said senior Imani Wimbish-Gay. "I think we fought through and prevailed."

Although practicing with fewer players makes it harder to simulate a game, this team did everything it could to get ready.

"The coaches have helped us in the gym and off the court in any way they can," said junior Laneja Warner. "We have remained focused and locked in the whole time."

The Tigers had a chance to clinch the second seed in the Southern States Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament on Feb. 19, but lost to William Carey.

"They’re resilient; they work their tails off for me," Dunk said. "We were picked last in the league during the pre-season and for us to have an opportunity to finish second says a lot about their hard work and character."

The Lady Tigers finished 15-12 with a rematch loss William Carey on Thursday in the conference tournament.