The Lady Bisons have spent the last 265 days thinking about how their season ended short of their fourth straight Atlantic Sun Championship. This Lady Bisons team can’t wait for redemption. They are living this season by the team’s new motto, “Can’t Wait.”
“After winning three championships in a row, we are in new territory this year with this idea of coming up short. ‘Can’t Wait’ came to me just in the sense of ‘I can’t wait to be with my teammates, can’t wait to practice, can’t wait to do weights, can’t wait to travel,’” said Coach Brandon Rosenthal.
Last year was a different year for the Lady Bisons, as the team has claimed a seat in the NCAA tournament for four of the past six years. According to Rosenthal, there is something the team has to regain this season to get back to that level.
“We have to get back that swagger. We had a tremendous year last year going 15-3 in conference, and then losing in the semi final. Some of the aura to playing us has diminished,” Rosenthal said. “There was a time we were untouchable. By no means is this a lesser team. I believe they need to find that swagger and believe in themselves.”
“As a team we are definitely looking at winning the A-Sun,” said junior Lauren Ford. “Our main goal as a team is to win the Atlantic Sun conference and go farther into the NCAA tournament than we have before, which is past the first round.”
Ford was one of three Lady Bisons named to the pre-season All-American team. According to Ford, she isn’t putting too much stock into any preseason accolades.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by the conference, but then again it is only preseason and our story will be told throughout the season and not necessarily what people think about it before hand,” Ford said. “So, I don’t want to read too much into it.”
To Ford and the rest of the team, proving that the Lady Bisons are still a force in the A-Sun is yet another goal they “can’t wait” to accomplish.
“We can’t wait for our moment to come,” Ford said.
The Lady Bisons won’t have to wait too much longer, as they’re set to take on home team Georgia in the Bulldog Invitational on Aug. 30.