Four alumni players dealt the club basketball team their second loss of the season on Feb. 25 with a final score of 40-56, despite being unable to fill the team’s five positions.
Citing their lack of practice time as the reason for their loss, the student players kept their enthusiasm throughout the night. “We have some really good talent,” said coach Marla Mundis, who also coaches the intercollegiate volleyball team at Mills, “We just don’t have the opportunity to meet and play as a team all that often.”
The students picked up their energy in the second half of the game with a comeback that almost tied the score. But their efforts were unsuccessful and the alumni held their ground. “Although the score may not show it, everyone played with their hearts out on the floor,” said sophomore Nikki DaSilva.
With fewer spectators in the stands than players on the court, the athletes felt a lack of support from their fellow students. “We would like to get more people out to our games to show support,” said DaSilva.
The club basketball team has become a resource for new players to learn skills and be a part of a team. Mundis spoke of two players in Friday’s game who had never played before.
“It’s amazing to watch them progress like that,” she said, “That’s my goal, after all. Really what I want to try to do is keep basketball alive here at Mills.”
“I think it went really well considering everything we had working against us. We had a lot of people take risks and try a lot of new things,” said junior Jenn Leier.
Top scorers for the students were Leier, 14 points, Nadia Ghani, 7 points, and Kalai Chu, 6 points. Lindsay Duckles and Nadia Khuzaie were the top scorers for the alumni, with 18 and 16 points respectively.
Students started playing together as a club in the fall of 2000 to replace the intercollegiate team that was cut from the program in the spring of the same year. Currently, about 10 players are involved. The alumni in Friday’s game had been a part of the team before its demise.
The club always welcomes new players. E-mail mmundis@mills.edu for more information.
