Aaliyahna Derrell makes a move towards the basket against IUSB SXU Athletics
Saint Xavier women’s basketball broke down No. 17 Indiana University South Bend last Wednesday the 14, defeating the Titans 72-55 for their first loss of the season.
SXU’s big late-season win was helped by great performances on both offense and defense, leading to the team’s fifth-straight win, and fifth-straight win of 15 plus.
Interim Head Coach Sidney Lovitsch credits the improvements on offense and defense for the late-season success they’ve found.
“They stayed mentally through it the whole time with confidence and energy,” Lovitsch said about SXU’s play against IUSB.
Saint Xavier has been playing exceptionally well over the last three weeks, but this level of confidence and consistency was not the same when the season began.
Part of the team’s battles were due to the lack of experience. Lovitsch knows this isn’t an excuse, saying “if you can play, you can play,” but the lack of upperclassmen leadership can make the start of a season difficult.
The Cougars’ offense sometimes struggled to finish games strong early in the season. When the offense would show signs of slowing, opponents took advantage.
Improvement of their shooting game is a direct result of the players’ confidence being built up in practice from repetitive shooting drills.
Outside of game-like shooting drills, Lovitsch said the biggest element to helping the players advance is telling them they can do it, and if they do it once they can do it over and over again.
Lovitsch also mentioned she’s proud of the offense for understanding their worth and being more confident in their abilities.
On the other hand, it wasn’t always a slow offense leading to a loss, but rather the defense. Late leads would wither as the other team’s offense took advantage of holes in their defense.
Lovitsch was a prolific scorer for Saint Xavier while she was playing, but defense was an equally important part of her game. Now a defensive-minded coach, Lovitsch knew she wanted to put a focus on how they play defense.
The coaching staff has been focusing on full-court movements, when to sit and not reach, how much space to give, how to beat someone to a spot, and more. It’s safe to say their work in practices has paid off, the defense now is much stronger than it was early in the season.
“I think that…exactly what we did in practice just showed on the floor,” she said about the defense, going on to say the players understood what needed to be done to win games.
There’s no doubt Lovitsch’s experience as a player for Saint Xavier’s program has allowed her to build trusting relationships with her players.
Success comes from trust and that starts with player trust in a coach, something this team clearly has. On top of that, the players trust each other, something you can’t lack if you want to win.
There is more rhythm on offense, point production was more consistent throughout the game, and the defense was plugging up holes.
Saint Xavier’s improvements have been day and night, something evident in the win against No. 17 IUSB.
Against the Titans, four of the five starters for Saint Xavier were in double-digits, with junior guard Aaliyahna Derrell leading the way with 17 points on 5-15 (33%) shooting.
Additionally, junior forward Alyssa Crenshaw led the game with nine rebounds while senior guard Bethany Baldwin finished with a game-leading three steals.
But it’s not just the starters making impacts on the game, the bench players have also stepped up when their number gets called.
“I don’t think that any team is a good team without bench,” Lovitsch said, going on to say there are players on her bench who could be starters and that’s what makes the Cougars so dynamic.
As the regular season winds down and the CCAC Tournament approaches, Lovitsch has full confidence in her team and what they are capable of accomplishing.
She’s known since the start of the season what this team is capable of, the skills have always been there, it was all about getting the players to believe in their abilities.
The win against then-undefeated No. 17 IUSB instilled a lot of confidence into the players and Lovitsch believes if they keep playing exactly how they did in their five-game winning streak, they can win the CCAC Tournament.