Cedarville University Yellow Jackets

March 13, 2018

I hate the reality that comes with writing this blog; this will be the final blog of the season and the end of an incredible season with an amazing team. Our tournament run ended early with a loss against Hillsdale in the second round of the G-MAC Tournament.

If you were not at our game against Hillsdale we were wearing TEAM LEVI shirts. Levi is the son of a Cedarville Women’s Basketball Alum and a Cedarville Men’s Basketball Alum that was recently diagnosed with a rare cancer, Ewing’s Sarcoma. You all are the best fans and have supported us so well this season and now we would like to ask you to please join us in fervently praying for Levi and the Delimpo family. Thank you in advance for those prayers and a big thank you to everyone who donated money to support the Delimpo family, during our game against Hillsdale. Praise the Lord because close to $1,000 was raised for the Delimpo family!

For you all to be able to stay updated with Levi’s battle, I have linked the Team Levi Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/changinglives4Jesus/

After such an unexpected and disappointing loss Coach Hoffman came in and said she was so glad we wore the TEAM LEVI shirts because ultimately life is about so much more than the game of basketball. I think that one of the hardest things as a collegiate athlete is having the perspective that our sport is not our life. It can easily begin to feel like that. Sitting in the locker room after a loss that we knew could potentially end our season, it was easy to feel overwhelmingly defeated. We are all thankful for a coach that can help us keep our perspective in line.


Despite this loss we still had hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament because of the success we had during the regular season. As we waited a few days for the NCAA Selection Show it didn’t even seem like there was a possibility our season was over. But our expectations and hopes were quickly shattered as we watched and our name never showed in the bracket. It was a sad ending to an incredible season. Although it ended in a very disappointing way, it doesn’t take away from the things we accomplished, learned, and overcame this season.

To my senior girls - you did not get the ending you deserve but once again it can’t take away from how special this season and the three seasons before, have been with you. Thank you for pouring your heart out to this team. Thank you for leading this team so well. Thank you for truly being like sisters. My prayer for you all is that you would be just as influential in this next chapter in your life as you were to our team. Leave your legacy like you did in this program, wherever you go.

"Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with every good thing that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." – Hebrews 13:20-21

I am so excited to see what He does in your life. Love you guys.

To all the parents - first I want to thank you for your daughters. I am genuinely so blessed to call each of them not only teammates but friends. I also want to thank you for all the support you’ve given to our team this season. The endless goody bags, hugs, and prayers you’ve given us were so appreciated. You are a huge reason this season was as special as it was.

The same goes for all our faithful fans. Without your support, this season would not have looked the same. I speak for the team and especially the seniors to say you fill our four years with an abundance of love and support.

Mr. Robinson - thank you for surprising us with those awesome "RISE UP" t-shirts.

We are so blessed to be a part of such a big and caring Cedarville Family.

Coaches - Once again thank you for pushing us towards Christ and helping us keep the right perspective. Thank you for leading and stretching us to be the best basketball player and person we can be. You teach us so much more than the game of basketball and the lessons you continue to teach will carry with us far beyond our four years at Cedarville.

Thank you Katie and JoJo for your willingness to lead us in our Bible studies. Thank you for your insight and for loving us all so well.

Thank you Katie, Emily, and Abby for your servant’s hearts in helping with our team all season.

There are hundreds more thank you’s I could write. We truly are grateful for every person that has interacted with, served, coached, loved, prayed for, and supported our team.

Abundantly blessed we are.

-Abby Wolford


February 27, 2018

Well everyone, another week has passed and we are excited to say that it is officially Tournament time! This is always a super exciting, intense, and a little nerve-racking time but we are ready to get things rolling and fight for another championship. If you are feeling a little behind at this point and haven’t kept up, we went 2-0 last week and secured the first seed in our conference. If you’re still feeling a little lost…this means the G-MAC Women’s Basketball Tournament is back in the Callan Athletic Center!!

We set a lot of goals for this season and it’s been really cool to see how many we have been able to accomplish despite the multiple road bumps our team has experienced. A few of our goals include:
 

• Win 20 games / Check!
• Host the Conference Tournament / Check!
• Win the Conference Tournament.
• Receive a bid into NCAA Tournament.

I like to think of the goals that have yet to be accomplished as "coming soon to a gym near you" (Get it? Near you? Cause we are hosting?)
Bad joke I know, but I couldn’t resist.

Anyhow, back to business. Besides updating you on the G-MAC Tournament, I wanted to tell you all a little bit about our game Saturday. Saturday was Senior Day and we had a great time honoring our four fantastic seniors: Emily, Bre, Taylor, and Kaitlyn. They are each such important pieces to our team and Saturday was a day that we could give them a very deserving celebration.

Emily, who has been out with an ankle sprain, got cleared to play in this game, which was a huge blessing seeing as though she was supposed to be out the rest of the season.

Taylor ended up with a double-double, with 12 points and 10 rebounds!

Kaitlyn did what she always does, shut down the other team’s best player and played incredible!

And last but not least, Bre dominated not only inside the paint but expanded to behind the arc…as she knocked down her first career three!

It was a great game for all four of them. Winning the game Saturday meant we were the G-MAC regular season champions so being able to cut down the net was the perfect ending to a pretty great Senior Day.

Thank you to all who came out to support our team and to specifically support Emily, Bre, Taylor, and Kaitlyn. We have appreciated your love and support all season.

We will see you all Thursday, 6:00 pm for our first round of tournament play!


February 21, 2018

Hello faithful Yellow Jacket fans! The last you heard from me we were headed to Findlay, Ohio for our game. We ended up 2-1 this past week with a loss to Findlay but two huge wins against Ursuline and Lake Erie… ending our crazy, four games in seven days, week. But once again we are rolling and preparing for our games Thursday and Saturday this week.

It’s crazy to think these are our last two regular season games of the 2017-18 season, but we are very thankful to get to play these games at home. We are getting to the end of the Seniors’ time playing in the Callan gym as a Cedarville Women’s Basketball player. With this in mind, I thought it would be fun to take a look back and see what each of their favorite games played in Callan were.


Emily Williams: "Favorite game played in Callan was this last game against Ursuline. Even though I didn't get to play I got to see the game from a different perspective and watch my teammates play the best they ever have. The gym atmosphere was incredible and I was so happy I got to be there and enjoy the big win with my teammates after several hits of adversity".

Taylor Buckley: "My favorite game played in Callan over the past four years was probably the Ashland game played this season. This game was my favorite because I loved the way we came together as a team to compete against the number one team in NCAA Division II as well as I enjoyed all the hype from the fans and supporters who came out and filled our stands".

Breanne Watterworth: "My favorite game played in Callan is the G-MAC Championship game my freshman year. It was so fun playing for and winning the championship my first year at Cedarville".

Kaitlyn Holm: "I would say the Ashland game because it was such a crazy awesome environment with the gym packed full and it was a super close game. Should’ve won but still was tons of fun".


It’s fun to think back on all the memories this gym holds for the seniors and will hold for every player after four (or five for some of us) years. The great news is we are about to have a lot more memories here because its looking like your Lady Jackets will be hosting the G-MAC tournament if we can get business done this week.

We would love to see you all in the gym Thursday at 5:30 p.m. (first 100 students get free Chick-fil-A!!!) and Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Saturday is Senior Night so come help us honor Taylor, Bre, Emily, and Kaitlyn who have given so much to this program over the last four years!

See you then!

Abby


February 13, 2018

Hello everyone, are you tired of me yet? I hope not because I am back yet again prepared to fill you in on the latest.

After getting back from Nashville we had a week to rest our bodies and prepare for our game against Ohio Dominican University. At this point everyone’s body is feeling the wear and tear of a long season. So having a few days without a game was really needed, especially with four games in seven days coming up. Unfortunately for our team, the "walking wounded" continues to grow. You may have noticed Emily did not play on Saturday and is in a boot. She sprained her ankle pretty badly at practice. With five regular season games left we are hoping and praying for quick recovery so that Em can finish out her senior season on the court.

During our game on Saturday we had a really cool opportunity to pray with the ODU team and coaches in the middle of our game. During the second quarter an ODU player went down with a very severe knee injury. As both teams were waiting, we joined hands together and prayed for her. We always pray with the other team after games but this was the first time I’ve been a part of praying with them in the middle of our game. Obviously, the circumstances were not what we would hope for but it was a really special moment. Being able to grab hands and pray together and then a few minutes later continue battling against each other was another reminder that it’s more than a game. You never want anyone to go down with an injury like that but if it does happen, you want it to be at Cedarville, because you know that everyone in that gym was praying for her.

We ended the game with a win and Senior Bre Watterworth became the 25th Cedarville Women’s Basketball player to reach 1,000 career points! Another shout out goes to senior Kaitlyn Holm. She had a double double and earned G-MAC Player of the Week!

As we continue to grind out the rest of the season a few things to remember:

* We are selling pink t-shirts in the lower SSC 11:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. this week for $5. All proceeds go to the Kay Yow Foundation for cancer research
* Wear that pink t-shirt you are going to buy to our Play4Kay Pink game Thursday, 7:00 p.m.
* Next four games are home games (February 17th, 22nd, and the 24th) and we would love to see you there


A few things we would appreciate prayer for: * Regina’s surgery is tomorrow (Wednesday)!
* Quick healing for Em’s ankle
* Smooth Recovery for the ODU Player
* Protection against injury the rest of the season
* Opportunities to keep arising for us to show Christ




February 7, 2018

Hello faithful blog readers. This past weekend we traveled to Kentucky Wesleyan and Trevecca. We ended the trip 1-1, with a loss to KWC and a win against Trevecca. A little warning before you continue reading… unfortunately the majority of this blog is focused on some pretty disappointing news and may be less basketball oriented than what you are used to.

During our game against KWC in the second quarter Regina went down with a knee injury. It was the same knee she tore her ACL in sophomore year here at Cedarville. We found out Monday that Reg re-tore her ACL and her meniscus and will be having surgery this upcoming Wednesday. Obviously, this news hit our team hard. I write all the time about how close our team is and how much we all love each other and although I wouldn’t trade that for the world when things like this happen it really affects everyone. When one is hurting we all hurt and this weekend was a prime example of that. A huge thank you to everyone that reached out the Regina with prayers and encouragement, I know it really meant a lot to Reg and honestly it meant a lot to the team knowing so many people were praying for our teammate. I asked Reg if she wanted to say anything in the blog because sometimes this is the most efficient way to update and thank everyone. So here is a message from our guest writer….

 
 
The morning after Reg’s injury in the hotel lobby I was talking with Coach and Jimmy and I asked the question, "Why do these things keep happening to us?". Jimmy admitted his answer was clique but honestly truth was spoken in that hotel lobby (thank you Jimmy). He said as Christians we are called to endure and keep going and so sometimes really unfortunate things happen for us to be able to show what it looks like to persevere through trials, to trust in God, and to be able to show who we represent and how we play for something bigger. Something adversity, injury, and trials can’t take away from us. We play for a greater purpose.

I think of the quote "there is still a plan unfolding, and somebody has their eyes on you to see how you’ll respond to these circumstances. Actually, its probably true that more people have eyes on you in the pit than were watching when you came down the road in a multi-colored coat." Coach talked about how people are watching to see how we will respond to this adversity and how we have an opportunity, an opportunity to play inspired basketball. More eyes are on us now. We came out and played inspired, played with toughness, and played with grit. I wish you all could have been there to witness the heart that was left on the floor. Also…Baylee Bennett now holds the school record for three’s made in a single game with…just wait… 11 THREE POINTERS! It was amazing.

The last thing I will share with you all is our team’s new mantra. When thinking about how we needed to rise to the challenge presented to us and persevere through some adversity, we said, "rise up" and so far it’s stuck. We found this Bible verse after the fact but it fits perfectly. It is Psalm 20:7-8, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright."

Some great things are happening during this time of adversity with the team and special things are going to happen the rest of this season. Please continue to pray for Regina, please pray for our team to remain injury free the rest of the season, and please pray that we would be able to point people towards Christ during this time.




January 30, 2018

Hello Yellow Jacket Fans!

It’s been a great week to be a Lady Jacket. Well, unless you are Cameron Peek or Jamie Dodane. The poor girls had the flu that’s been going around campus this week, so unfortunately they haven’t been able to be with us. But thankfully they both got some much-needed rest and were able to be reunited with us Monday at practice! Although I’ve learned many things my four years here, one thing for certain is that if one person on the team gets sick it spreads like a wildfire and you’re basically guaranteed to have at least one other person go down.

Regardless of some teammates with the flu and everyone’s body inevitably fighting off the sickness, we traveled to Lake Erie and came home with a really important win. Honestly, I know I keep saying we have been having "big wins" but at this point in the season and where we are sitting in the conference every game is a huge game. It was great to have Taylor Buckley back on the court after missing eight games due to a concussion. Thank you all who prayed for Taylor and her recovery. Also, if you weren’t aware we had 25 offensive rebounds against Lake Erie, which is just unreal. Coach challenged us to get more offensive rebounds and the team really took that to heart and got the job done.

Saturday rolled around and we were excited about two things: Being able to play at home and most importantly… team brunch.
 

If there is a second thing I’ve learned during my time at Cedarville, it is that our team loves food. We decided to make a pre-game meal together. This delicious meal consisted of scrambled eggs, sausage, waffles, strawberries, oranges, and bananas. It was really nice getting to cook with each other and share a good meal before our game. The time together, the laughter, and the food evidently fueled us well, as we had a 33-point win against Ohio Valley.

This is the first game this season we reached 100 points! But what is even more exciting than that is that our very own freshman, Annabelle Hinds got to score the 100th point! I wish we could have a replay of the bench celebration. Everyone went crazy. Baylee Bennett jumped on Emily Williams’ back, Ashlyn Huffman and I chest bumped, and Regina Hochstetler held the three-point sign up (even though it was a layup). It was one of those small moments that make you really thankful to be sitting on that bench, in uniform or not, and appreciate the team we are blessed to be a part of.


January 23, 2018
 

I hope you all enjoyed our video from last week. We were excited for you to be able to get a glimpse at the fun we all have together.

This past Saturday we traveled up to Ursuline College. We haven’t gotten a win in this gym in quite some time so being able to get the job done felt really great! A huge shout out goes to one of our freshmean, Ashlyn Huffman, who stepped it up big time and played really well. Also, to Kaitlyn, Bre, and Baylee who hit some clutch free throws near the end.

Coach hasn’t been overly thrilled with our nail biter endings lately…she may or may not have found a few gray strands in her hair. But regardless of the fact that we might need to buy coach some hair dye by the end of this season, it is fun to see players make big plays and see our team execute down the stretch. This big win against Ursuline means we are tied for first place in the G-MAC!!

Coming up this week, we are traveling to Lake Erie College on Thursday at 7:45 p.m. and then play at home against Ohio Valley University on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Can’t wait to see you all there!

January 16, 2018

Hello faithful blog readers, this week we have a special treat for you. We are giving you the inside look at what it is like to travel with our team. We traveled to West Virginia this past weekend and had a blast. A few things...
 

January 9, 2018

Hello again Yellow Jacket fans!

At the close of the last blog, we were preparing to go up to Ohio Dominican. Friday night before our game, Dr. White and his family invited us to dinner at their house. The food was delicious but the real fun began after dinner when we played a game called "Heads Up". If you aren

’t familiar with this game it is an app on your phone that you can choose categories, for example one category was animals. One person holds the phone on their forehead and the name of an animal will pop up and their team has to describe that animal until you guess it right. It’s a blast. We ended up playing a category called "Act it Out". As you can guess it’s like charades so you can’t speak at all. I wish this blog had a video link because I’d love to show you Lady Jacket fans Coach Hoffman’s hilarious speed skater impression! A blast was had by all and we are so thankful for the Whites welcoming us into their home!

We left for ODU the next morning and headed to our usual pre-game meal spot: Panera. Our game against ODU was a nail biter but we came out with a huge road win. Special shout out to Regina Hochstetler who went off for a career-high 36 points!! The best way to sum up that game is to share what Emily Williams said on the bus going home: "I’m just so happy for everyone, everyone is happy and I’m happy for everyone".

Emily’s quote of how happy she was for everyone is a great example of how our team is. Everyone was excited for Reggie’s 36 points, everyone was excited for Kaitlyn and Bre’s rebounds, for our team defense, our execution. Everyone contributed and everyone was excited for each other. It’s such an encouraging atmosphere to be a part of.

The team effort and win was my favorite part of the game, but a close second comes from Ashlyn Huffman during the starting line-up announcements. Freshman, "Ash"as we call her, has been starting since our game against Malone. At ODU, when they called her name to run out, instead of just running out with the traditional hand slaps, she decided to impersonate Coach’s speed skating impression. I must say it was pretty good and very funny. Thanks for that Ash, and thank you Coach for letting us make fun of you just a little. :)

Until next time.


January 5, 2018

Hello everyone! It's been a while, so be prepared as I fill you in on all that has been going on with your lady Yellow Jackets.
 
In case you missed it during exam week we traveled to Hillsdale and came out with a win. That following Saturday we played Findlay at home. Unfortunately, we left for Christmas break with a disappointing loss after a double OT game against Findlay.
 
More unfortunate news, over Christmas break Jamie Dodane had her second meniscus surgery and I had another ACL Reconstruction. We are beginning to think there might be something in the water to explain the left knee injuries.
 
I hate to spend time addressing my injury and would much rather ignore and avoid it all together. However, with the amount of people that have asked me if I will be playing this season, have told me they’ve been diligently praying for me and my health, and have all around shown their support, I feel like it is important to share my thoughts and thank you for your kind words and prayers.
 

---

 
I apologize because that was much longer than I intended, so right back to it…when we arrived back on campus from Christmas break the team got right to business and started to prepare for our upcoming conference games. We played our first conference game after Christmas break at Walsh and had a very disappointing show. No one was happy with the outcome of the game so practice the next day was all about giving 100% effort at all times, doing all the little things right, and getting our teams gears turning the right way again. We started this “award” each practice called the “Gritty Woman of the Day”. Your injured reserve players (Jamie, Ellie, and I) are in charge of watching practice and voting on who we believe was the grittiest player at practice. So far Emily Williams, Cameron Peek, Kaitlyn Holm, and Kelly Poole have received this award and have signed their name on a special, homemade “GWOD” t-shirt.
 
After an intense practice, we headed down to Cincinnati to celebrate the New Year at my house. Thanks Mom and Dad for the “slumber party” and  for providing us with some delicious meals. If you know our team we don’t like to just sit around. So we had a blast playing some crazy, fun games and A LOT of euchre. New Years even included some ice skating on the pond at my house. Bre, Kaitlyn, and Baylee were brave enough to lace up some skates and I will say I was all around impressed with their skills on skates.
 
We then came back and once again got back to it. So after a day of practice we traveled to Malone. We played with grit and fire, coming home with a win and taking steps in the right direction to get back on the right track. It goes without saying but, we felt worlds better coming home from Malone than we did coming home from Walsh.
 
A few more updates…
 
Yesterday (1/4) we had the opportunity after practice and lifting to go to Perrin Woods Elementary to read books to several classes. The team had a great time, learned new dance moves, and gained a lot of new fans! It was refreshing changing up our schedule and being able to hang out with some pretty energetic students. A lot of laughs and stories were shared.
 
 Also, thank you to the Bennett family who opened their house last night to the team and provided us with an awesome dinner!
 
Tomorrow (1/6), we face up against a talented Ohio Dominican team at ODU and are excited about another opportunity to take steps in the right direction.
 
Mark your calendars for January 15th! This is the next time you’ll be able to see your Lady Jackets in action at the Callan Athletic Center and we hope to see you all there!
 


December 12, 2017

It’s been another great week as a Yellow Jacket. With the first week of conference play, we are sitting 2-0 and let me tell you that feels good but we are preparing ourselves for March when it all matters. If you haven’t already heard, something even more exciting has happened this past week. We are nationally ranked! Your Lady Yellow Jackets are currently ranked the 24th best team in the nation. Obviously this is exciting but we celebrate the accomplishment and quickly move on because we have teams to beat, work to do, and goals to reach.

Like I said, this week was our first taste of conference competition. We played two solid teams, Trevecca on Thursday and Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday. Ending the week with two solid wins feels great and gives us confidence going into our game against Hillsdale this Wednesday.

Something that is behind the scenes that many of you may not know is that our coaching staff does a phenomenal job preparing us before our games. If you recall back to our special edition Thanksgiving blog, Bre mentioned that she was "thankful for all the effort that our coaching staff puts in to prepare us for a game." Usually a couple practices before a game the coaches will explain our next opponent’s style of play so that we can focus on how to defensively play against them throughout the practice. For example, if our opponent scores at the basket at a high volume, we focus defensively on stopping drives and having great help defense. The day before a practice we watch clips before we ever step foot on the court. This entails receiving a scouting report and watching film of their key players’ style of play, the team’s offense and also their defensive tendencies. This allows us to see and prepare for what we will be competing against the next day. During the actual practice portion we walk through those offensive sets we watched and talk about how we are going to defend them. We don’t focus too much on the other team however, because it is obviously most important to concentrate on us and how we want to play. All this to say it is so nice to walk into a game feeling prepared because of our coaching staff. Thank you coaches!

We have a big week coming up. Not only do we play at Hillsdale on Wednesday and Findlay at home on Saturday (two talented conference teams) but, we are headed into exam week and the stress and fatigue that comes with that makes this week a tough one. As we sat in the locker room waiting for practice this week, one of our seniors, Emily Williams had a few wise words to say to us regarding exam week:

"Well ladies, time to prepare to study all day because that’s just what you do on exam week." It was quite humorous because it wasn’t like Emily felt like she needed that much time to prepare for her exam, it was because that’s "just what you do during exam week!"

So with that being said, you can either find your Lady Jackets in the library studying all day or in the gym working hard to add some more W’s to our record.

See you next week!


December 4, 2017
Hello faithful blog readers. The last time I wrote, you heard about our Sunday night dinner at Coach’s house and how much fun we had… I quote, "Its always fun getting to spend time with each other outside of the basketball court and I feel like the laughing never ceases when we are all together." Well, I’m here to tell you that it wasn’t all fun and the laughing did cease. Let me give you an insight on something that our team has been very familiar with this last week… we call it "The Plague".

A few days before our team went to Coach’s house for dinner. Finley (Coach’s oldest daughter) was sick, threw up but bounced back pretty quick. After the team left the Sunday dinner, Breslyn (Coach’s youngest daughter) got sick. This was the beginning of "The Plague". For the rest of this blog, just know the word sick means stomach flu, throwing up, feeling like death. Coach was doomed and was sick all Monday before our game. 3 people down. By Tuesday morning Bre, Kelly, Kaitlyn, and John were sick. 7 people down. Tuesday night rolls around and Anna throws up. 8 people down. Wednesday morning I am sick. 9 people down.

At this point the team "Group Me" message is going crazy - everyone updating each other on how they are feeling. Every time my phone buzzed I was afraid to see who was next. Thursday comes and we are preparing to play Wilberforce. Baylee feels sick. 10 people down. Friday, Stevie is sick. 11 people down. Saturday morning Jamie gets sick. 12 people down. Saturday night into Sunday morning I get sick AGAIN - this time way worse. Let’s just say I thought throwing up once on Wednesday was bad, I had no idea what was coming for me. Baylee gets sick again, too. Is this The Plague 2.0?? We sure hope not. Ashlyn and Emily got sick that night as well. 14 people down.

Taylor, Annabelle, Regina, Cameron, Ellie, and Steve are the only ones left un-plagued. But as the team group message said, "the plague is alive and well" and "no one is safe".

In all seriousness, we need to be healthy for conference play starting this Thursday against Trevecca at 5:30 p.m.! So prayers are greatly appreciated.

Here’s to a new week, hopefully plague free.

Abby Wolford


November 29, 2017

Hello Yellow Jacket fans! We are back in action after an appreciated few days at home for Thanksgiving break. Notice I said a few days "home" not a few days "off". You might have imagined the team spending these days at home relaxing and eating as much turkey as we could, but in reality we were sent home with a few workouts that needed to be checked off throughout the break. However, this is something we are used to because we understand that we cannot afford to lose any of the hard work that we have put in day after day. The fruits of our labor and discipline to complete those workouts showed during our practices and during our game against U-Indy on Monday. We transitioned very well, played hard, and kept the pace of the game up to speed with how we want to play.

I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here talking about the game but am just excited about how we played and executed. So…we arrived back onto campus Saturday after Thanksgiving for practice. That next morning we all went to church and then met at Panera for team lunch. Panera is a classic for our team during the season and I feel like at this point we’ve all become accustomed to the look we get from the cashier worker when they see the size of our group and get a bit wide-eyed and overwhelmed. Never-the-less Panera is hands down the team favorite and never disappoints throughout the season. We had practice Sunday afternoon to prepare for our Monday game against U-Indy and then after had dinner at Coach’s house. Its always fun getting to spend time with each other outside of the basketball court and I feel like the laughing never ceases when we are all together. I love the joy this team radiates.

Monday rolled around; we prepared for our game with a shoot around, enjoyed a delicious lunch at Beans-n-Cream, and got ready for business. Before the game, coach reminded us that if we concentrate on three foundational words to our program - hard, smart, and together - that we would come out successful this game. This is exactly what the team did.

A few more thoughts…Thank you for all of those that prayed for Ellie. She had a successful surgery right before break and the doctor says everything is looking really good! Praise God for that blessing and continue to pray during her recovery.

We would also appreciate prayer for a few lingering injuries and for the team as we start conference play next week! With the G-MAC adding so many new schools conference play is being started much earlier than usual. The pressure is amped up and the stress level can rise even more during this time of the season. So continue to pray for your Yellow Jackets.

Lastly, we hope to see you all at our next game…Thursday, November 30 vs. Wilberforce at 5:30 p.m. in the Callan Athletic Center.


November 22, 2017

Lady Jackets’ Thanksgiving

A few weeks ago we had the Athletes in Action International Coaches Academy come and watch our practice. After practice we huddled up with all the coaches and a former coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Del Harris, talked with us a few minutes about the power of thankfulness. There is a lot to be thankful for but unfortunately, sometimes those things can be masked by bad practices, bouts of injury, performance slumps, and just the exhaustion that might come from our long season.

However, when we sit down and think about the things we are grateful for, we realize just how blessed we truly are. Coach Harris talked about how powerful this can be in getting through tough times in life and as a team. Because basketball is such a huge part of our lives and our team really is a family to us, the things we have to be grateful for quickly add up. Our hearts are filled with gratitude so we want to share with you the inside scoop of some things we are thankful for, big and small!

So here is your special edition Thanksgiving blog from the Lady Yellow Jackets:

• Thankful to get to enjoy Thanksgiving break coming off two wins against Central State and Ohio Christian University.
• Thankful for the constant support I receive from my teammates, coaches, family, and friends. Knowing that I have them all encouraging me through the good and the bad makes me extremely thankful for them. – Stevie
• Thankful for the light my team is in my life. Throughout the last three years I have been constantly loved by God and my family at Cedarville. – Jamie
• Thankful that when everyone leaves for the weekend we all get so excited to come back and see each other again. – Kaitlyn
• Thankful for my roommate (aka Reg) always rolling me out after practice and for her essential oils. – Emily
• Thankful for Stevie for being my shooting partner. – Annabelle
• Thankful for our Monday evening Bible studies and how open and genuine they’ve been. It’s cool to be a part of a team that not only grows together on the court but just as much off the court as well. – Reg
• Thankful for our team trips to MOD Pizza. – Anna
• Thankful for the laughter and joy this team brings to my life every day – Abby
• Thankful to be on a team that always pushes me towards Christ and has helped me tremendously in my walk with Christ. These girls are truly a family and I could not be more thankful for the relationships I have made on this team. Also thankful for the townhouse girls always opening their home to me. – Kelly
• Thankful for all the effort that our coaching staff puts in to prepare us for a game. – Bre
• Thankful for teammates that know the power of prayer and use it for each other and the team we play. – Cameron
• Thankful for movie nights and haunted houses with Cam, Jamie, and Ashlyn. Thankful for all the laughs when we are all together (Examples- John throwing his whistle or Anna getting chest bumped onto the court during the game). - Baylee
• Thankful for all the injured players that encourage and coach the ones playing every day. – Ashlyn
• I am super thankful for how helpful and encouraging my teammates have been with my injury. From throwing a party for me, to helping me get around, to taking me to my doctor appointments, to encouraging me with sweet texts and notes and most importantly praying for me. - Ellie

???????This list could keep going and going. I wish everyone could get to experience being a part of something as special as this team. Thank you to everyone that makes being a Cedarville Women’s Basketball player something to be so grateful for and for making it about so much more than just the sport of basketball.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!


November 15, 2017

Hello fans. I’m back again after a weekend full of action, excitement, and honestly a little heartbreak. We started off the weekend playing a talented Wisconsin-Parkside team. Although the first half started a little slow for our team we came out in the second half and had a blast. I think the highlight for the team (minus the win itself of course) was the opportunity to get back out on the court with each other and have some fun. We quickly had to celebrate our first win and move on. The next morning we were up bright and early preparing for our game that afternoon against the NCAA II #1 team in the country, Ashland University.

I can't

say enough about how proud I am of my teammates. How proud I am of how we battled and played so hard. How unselfish and genuinely happy we were for each other’s success. How energetic and passionate the bench was. How much joy was shown while playing and how we reacted after a heartbreaking loss. I think back to the game and can’t help but smile thinking about all of the great things that happened. If you aren’t aware of how the game ended, we lost by one point on a buzzer beater shot. But not one person was content or satisfied with being that close to beating the number one team in the country. We got a taste of what we can do this year if we keep working. So buckle up everybody I think we are on the verge of something special this year.

A few shout outs before I say goodbye:
 

• Regina Hochstetler was named G-MAC Player of the Week after this weekend’s 27-point game and 22-point game. She is so deserving of this and hopefully this is the kick-start of a lot of Yellow Jackets that receive this award this season.

 

• Taylor Buckley was a stud this weekend. As my high school coach would say, we should start calling her Windex because of how she cleaned that backboard (aka she got a ton of rebounds and put backs). Tay came off the bench to score 20 points and grab 12 rebounds! So proud of how hard she played.

 

• Lastly, we had a GREAT crowd at both of our games this weekend. Thank you to all of you that came and a special thank you to the SWARM for cheering us on and making the Callan Athletic Center a great atmosphere to play in! We are so appreciative of everyone’s support, so thank you!

That’s all for now!

Abby Wolford


November 8, 2017

Who, What’s, and Whys

Hello faithful Women’s Basketball Blog readers! Let me take a few seconds to introduce myself. My name is Abby Wolford and I will be this year’s blogger. I feel honored to be asked to write the blog this year, but lets see if y’all feel the same way after reading what I write week after week :) There is a lot that has happened with the team so bear with me as I introduce you to my teammates and give you a little backdrop of what goes on!

We are officially TWO DAYS from our 2017-18 season opener. So much excitement is in the air with our team. Months of hard work, sweat, blood, and tears lead up to this opening tournament. Whoever you are reading this, November 10 @ 7:45 PM in the Callan Athletic Center and November 11 @ 3:15 PM in the Callan Athletic Center is where you should be to watch your Lady Jackets open up their season.
 

Since you will be at our games on those days (you will be there, right?) I figured I should spend a little time introducing you to the amazing girls I am blessed to call my teammates/sisters. There will be a lot of faces you will recognize if you are at all familiar with our team, but there are three faces that will be new. Our three Freshies. Please welcome Annabelle Hinds, Ashlyn Huffman, and Stevie Johnting. I can’t say enough about these three additions to our program. My favorite part of the beginning of each season is seeing the freshman mesh so well with the team. It’s just another reminder that God has handpicked them to come to Cedarville and be a part of our team that we call family.

Now on to the familiar faces….

For the sophomore class we have two returners Cameron Peek and Anna DeFilippo. Let me tell you…these girls (unintentionally, of course) will make you feel very unprepared for life when you talk to them about their possible future plans. They are going places people! I can’t wait to see where both of them end up.

For the junior class we have four returning players. First off, we have Baylee Bennett, our returning point guard who transferred here to Cedarville after spending her freshman year at Cincinnati Christian University. We then have Jamie Dodane, our star Resound radio Operations Manager. Kelly Poole is our next returning junior; she comes all the way from Massachusetts and played last season with us after spending freshman year on the JV team. We then have #33 Ellie Jeungel, who you can see riding her faithful steed, "Scott the Scooter". If you don’t know, during pre-season we were doing our sprint workout and Ellie turned wrong and ended up with a Lis-Franc injury. She had surgery in September and so far she has been healing very well! Praise God! It’s a long hard season and spending it injured can be a hard battle, so please remember to keep her in your prayers.

Next, the two red shirt juniors…Regina (Reggie) Hochstetler and I. Technically Regina and I are in the junior class, but it’s still very hard not to associate ourselves with our class that we’ve gotten to spend the last four years with. Even though we won’t get to walk out with those girls we walked in with (stupid ACL’s), we are confident God has us here an extra year for a reason.

There you have it, the Cedarville Women’s Basketball 2017-18 team.

So I’m sure you heard about our Penn State exhibition game….

No, I’m just kidding.Thought I forgot about some pretty important people, did ya?

I didn’t.

I always save the best for last, which are the players participating in their last go-round as a Yellow Jacket. Our four seniors… Emily Williams, Taylor Buckley, Bre Watterworth, and Kaitlyn Holm. They will get a lot of spotlight this year on this blog, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. These are quality ladies and are going to be missed a lot next year.

Now that you’re in the loop with the who’s of the team I want to give you the insight on what of the team. So what’s been happening. Some exciting things have taken place so far with our team.

The night before Ellie’s big surgery we decided to host a big going away party for "Lis" (her injury). This included a cake that said "goodbye Lis", an egg toss, dance party, and "pin the tail on the Lis". This was the most random night but honestly will be one of my greatest memories with my team at Cedarville.

Team retreat was during Fall Break and we headed down to Amish Country in Hiland, OH. While we were there we went to a hoe down and spent the night learning new line and square dances. Retreat is always a highlight of our year so big thank you’s to our coaching staff for planning another great team retreat and the Hochstetler’s for their hospitality and making us a delicious dinner!

We volunteered and worked a small basketball clinic across the street at Cedar Cliff and got to have fun with a lot of kids and teach them more about the sport we love. What’s better than that?

We traveled to Penn State for our exhibition game, got to experience our first road trip as a team (newsflash… its always a blast) and ended up beating Penn State! I’m so proud of my team from the bottom of the bench to the girls who played 36 minutes, everyone rallied around each other and played hard, cheered hard, and just had fun. It was a really cool experience. A big thanks to the DeFilippo family who hosted us and provided a delicious meal for our team on our way to Penn State!
 

As always Moonlight Madness was a great time! We are so privileged to get to participate in such a fun and exciting event. More big thank you’s are in order… so thank you Brian Burns, Darren Miller, SGA, Sport Management Majors, and everyone else that helped make the event a great one. We are so appreciative of the hard work that went into Moonlight Madness.

I’m almost done, I promise. The last thing is the why. Why we play basketball. We believe that God has gifted us with this sport and we are called to use it as a platform to further his kingdom. Each one of us has been blessed with not only the ability to play this sport but we have been gifted with the ability to play it well. My teammates are some very talented basketball players and I just can’t help but think about how awesome it is that God entrusted us with these talents and how we have a much greater purpose than running down a court and putting an orange rubber ball in a hoop.

As we go throughout this season, I ask that you would keep this team in your prayers. Pray that we could keep things in perspective throughout a long season, that opportunities would continue to arise to boldly share our faith, and that we would act in such a way, during a seriously competitive sport, that would cause people to look at us and see something different.

There you have it. The who, what’s, and whys of Cedarville Women’s Basketball thus far!


Abby Wolford is a 5-foot-7 junior guard from Cincinnati, Ohio. She is in her third season with the Lady Jackets and is majoring in health and physical education.