AU women's hoops on long hiatus due to COVID-19 postponements, cancellations
By Jack Johnson | Sports writer
It has been more than a month since the Augusta University women’s basketball team last played.
In fact, Dec. 19 was the last time anyone got to witness the Jaguar women take the court. Since then, the Jaguars have endured a lengthy series of unfortunate events and have lost several players due to the coronavirus. Since Dec. 17, AU has had nine of ten games postponed or cancelled.
Five weeks later, on Friday, Jan. 22, the women were able to return and complete their first practice as a team since that last outing.
According to AU Coach Millette Green, the team cancelled two non-conference games that were scheduled in December and have postponed the first seven of eight conference games that they had scheduled in January.
Returning from a lengthy hiatus such as this during the height of the basketball season is no easy feat. Green also stated that she currently has several players at different phases in the recovery process from COIVD-19, and at their first official team practice since Dec. 20, she only had six players who were able to participate.
“It has affected my team mentally and physically,” Green said of the pandemic. “All we can do is take it day by day and control what we can control. Things are always changing so we have to adapt quickly.”
Although the team’s return to action poses an absurd number of challenges, Green is remaining positive and looking forward to playing the Jaguars’ first game in over a month.
“The biggest challenge for the team has been making sure that they are mentally and physically ready to compete,” she said.
During their absence, some of the women even went as far as making scouting reports for other teams competing in the Peach Belt Conference, showing that they are eager to take the court once again.
Green is expecting to have two more players join practice within the next few days, which would put them at eight currently active players. This is what the PBC requires for competition.
The AU women have their next home game scheduled for Friday, Feb. 3, against Francis Marion University. A game at North Georgia this Saturday (Jan. 30) is up in the air; a decision will be made in a day or two.
It will be a welcoming sight to see the Jaguar women return to their season next week. Before this long absence from competition, the women looked as though they have greatly improved from last season as they cruised to an easy win over UNC Pembroke on Dec. 5 with a final score of 77-51. That game did not count as a PBC contest.
The Lady Jaguars’ comeback will without a doubt be a great challenge of their season. Hopefully, the team won’t have to go through another series of lost games such as this one. It will be a challenge to make up a whole month of missed contests.
Contact Jack Johnson at jacjohnson@augusta.edu.
