NEWS

 

. . .the perspective of two long-time fans and Davidson alumni

By Ann Campanella

By now, you’ve heard the sad news that the Davidson College women’s basketball team’s season has come to a premature end. The Lady Wildcats will forfeit three of their last four regular season games and not participate in the Atlantic-10 Championship Tournament.

This team, coached by Gayle Fulks, was arguably the best Davidson women’s basketball team in school history. A team destined for greatness, the Davidson women started the season 12-1 with signature wins over Wake Forest, Duke, and across-town rival UNCC. In an email to fans and supporters, Coach Fulks said, “As of [Friday]… our basketball season has been cancelled…due to a string of long-term and unfortunately timed injuries.”

This season of basketball deserves to be remembered for both its storybook beginning and its heroic moments. It was a season of incredible highs and devastating lows.

“This team is going places!” was the catch phrase passed back and forth between my husband, Joel Campanella, a Davidson alum and long-time basketball fan, and Ryan Bauder, one of Fulks’ assistant coaches.

In November, the Wildcats opened up with decisive victories against conference and non-conference teams. But to the surprise of some fans, they beat powerhouse programs like Wake Forest by five and Duke by seven, and only lost to UNC by four. It was clear this team was special. My husband was ready to book his tickets for the Women’s A-10 tournament in Richmond for the first time in a decade.

On December.5, for his birthday, I joined Joel to watch the Davidson women take on conference foe Dayton, who had beaten our team fourteen games in a row. The Wildcats won 81-53, a 28-point victory, and I saw the magic! I was ready to drive to Richmond with Joel in March. Out of 360 Division I teams in the Women’s NCAA, Davidson was #40 in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) computer rankings, and they were already receiving votes for the top 25 in both major polls for the first time in school history.

Having experienced the glory years with Steph Curry and several NCAA-bound men’s teams, Joel and I both recognized greatness when we saw it. We didn’t want to miss the excitement.

The team was led by Senior Forward Elle Sutphin, 2nd Team All-Conference last season and voted Pre-season 1st Team All-Conference this year, until she was injured in late November. Before the first game, though, the Wildcats lost Sallie Schutz and Tomisin Adenupe to season-ending injuries.

The new starting five was made up of four Australians: fifth-year senior guard Suzi-Rose “Rosie” Deegan, named Freshman of the Year in the A-10 in 2019, junior forward Millie Prior, who led the A-10 in field goal percentage at one point in the season, sophomore guard Charlise Dunn, a transfer from Virginia Tech, a team that won the ACC tournament and made it to the Final Four in 2023, and junior guard Issy Morgan, on the A-10 All-Rookie Team her freshman year. Junior guard Mallorie Haines from Davidson Day, who partway through the season was ranked #1 in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage, rounded out the team.

This lineup supported by the strong bench play of Maddie Plank, Sylvie Jackson, Katie Donovan, and Chloe Oliver continued winning until the dominos began to fall. On January 10, on the road against George Mason, the team was devastated when both Deegan and Jackson sustained season-ending injuries. After some losses and adjusting to the injuries, the team stabilized and started winning again.

A month later, on February 11, against Loyola-Chicago, disaster struck again when Charlise Dunn went down four minutes into the game. Emotions were raw, and Coach Fulks was given two technical fouls as her frustration showed over the lack of a whistle that could have blown the play dead before the injury. It might have been the straw that broke the team’s back. But it didn’t. Sutphin returned to play limited minutes in this game, and amazingly, the team pulled together to defeat Loyola-Chicago by 3.

Three days later, on Valentine’s Day, miraculously, the Wildcats avenged their loss against George Mason (the team that beat them the night Deegan and Jackson’s seasons ended). After a slow start, the team played one of the most inspired quarters of the entire season, beating George Mason 21-4 in the second quarter, and held on to win by 8. Sutphin had a career high of 24 points and Haines went 4 for 6 from the 3-point line. But unfortunately, point guard Morgan rolled her ankle in the last five minutes of the game and was unable to play for two weeks.

The decimated team played Rhode Island without Deegan, Dunn, Jackson and Morgan and lost in a close game. At this point, the Wildcats had to forfeit the next two games because of an outbreak of the flu on campus that affected three girls on top of all the injuries, leaving only six scholarship players available. Senior Night had to be rescheduled from February 24 to February 28.

Eleven days later, 767 fans (official attendance) came out for the game against George Washington and to bid goodbye to seniors Schutz, Plank, Sutphin, and Deegan. The short-handed team had to recruit two walk-ons, Mallory Justis and K.P. Peterson, from the student body to fill the bench. Elle was reinjured and not suited up to play. Morgan, back from her ankle injury, Prior with a taped shoulder, and Haines played alongside senior Plank, and freshmen Donovan, Oliver, and Eliza Buerk.

Late in the third quarter, Plank was bumped hard and landed on her right knee. The entire bench held its breath as they watched her in obvious pain. As she was assisted off the court, Davidson players broke down in tears, some visibly sobbing. Belk Arena was as quiet as Joel and I had ever heard it.

After an extended timeout, the game resumed and, remarkably, the remaining players put on a heroic performance, pulling ahead of George Washington and leading by 4 with five minutes to go. Maddie’s injury turned out to be the final straw. The team, emotionally and physically spent, played their hearts out but didn’t score again and lost by 5.

“Despite the challenging nature of the way the season has unfolded, our team never fractured, and we competed to the very end,” Coach Fulks summed up the character of her team. “I am confident there is no team in the country that would have handled the hardship we faced with as much grace, strength and adaptability as our young women did.”

Ironically, on this final night of the 2023-24 Wildcat Women’s basketball season, Dr. Susan Roberts led a pre-game conversation in the Red Ventures Room of Baker Sports Complex celebrating 50 years of co-education at Davidson College. She and others shared the challenges of women integrating into what had been a traditionally all-male college since 1837. Everyone knows that men’s basketball receives a lot of press and attention. Yet, the experience of this year’s women’s basketball team rivals any men or women’s team in any sport throughout Davidson’s history. While the record books won’t show it, the story of this group of exceptional women athletes deserves to be remembered and celebrated.

Ann Williams Campanella and Joel Campanella are Davidson alumni, Class of ’82.