BY: Jason Martin
In their first season as full members of NCAA DII’s Gulf South Conference, Auburn University at Montgomery’s women’s basketball team showed a great deal of promise during the 2019-20 season. The Warhawks finished the season with a 12-16 record and went 5-15 in conference play. Led by senior forward Victoria Morales, AUM improved upon their 5-23 record from the 2018-19 campaign.
AUM started the season strong by going 4-1 against regional non-conference opponents. However, the Warhawks did see a swift decline in performance when conference play opened in late November. There were, however, some positive signs in the latter stages of 2019, as the Warhawks were able to gain two victories over Trevecca Nazarene University and Fort Valley State before resuming GSC action in December.
Perhaps one of the biggest wins of the year opened the new decade. The Warhawks traveled to Montevallo to square off against their rival: the Falcons. AUM used a 26-point effort from Catlin Carter to sink the Falcons, who were receiving votes in the latest edition of the national rankings 69-50. The win against Montevallo gave the AUM some hope about potentially securing a playoff berth in the Gulf South Championships.
After their victory, the Warhawks were able to capitalize on the momentum gained, and they won two of their next three games to keep pace in the standings. After a road win against the West Florida Argos, the Warhawks dropped their next four games, bringing their GSC record to 3-11. This meant the Orange & Black needed to win games in bunches down the stretch. With six games left in the season after the matchup against UWF, the Warhawks took two victories over Shorter and Christian Brothers but dropped four games, resulting in an 11th-place finish in the Gulf South.
Looking forward to the 2020-21 season, it is difficult to predict any improvement or regression. The women’s basketball team graduated six seniors, and Head Coach Sean Page has the challenging task of bringing in a new cast of Warhawks to compete in one of the best conferences in the country.