Sounds of the Miners’ fight song echoed throughout the Don Haskins Center as 4,000-plus fans sang along. The women’s basketball team just clinched a share of the Conference USA regular season title after defeating Old Dominion, and head coach Keitha Adams strolled over to the score table and snatched up the microphone.
“We got a great thing going here,” shouted Adams, who usually gives a quick speech to the crowd after home games.
After a grueling 50-minute, double overtime victory against Charlotte, which not only made the group perfect at home throughout the season (16-0), but they also became the sole regular season conference champions.
“I’m taking it in right now,” Adams said after the win. “Really proud of our players — Lord above is with us, no doubt it. The kids have worked hard all year to get the conference championship to ourselves.”
Now that the regular season draws to a close, talks about post-season accolades have begun; one specifically pertains to Adams for Conference USA Head Coach of the Year.
Posting 25 wins and only two losses, the team stands at the top of the conference and hunts for a spot in the top-25 poll, where they continue to get a high number of votes each week. A lot of the team’s success can be credited to Adams. The last time the Miners were ranked was in 2008, when they were nationally acknowledged for the last six weeks of the season. Prior to Adams, no coach in program history had a team reach the national polls.
“She deserves it (Coach of the Year),” senior guard Cameasha Turner said. “I know if you talk to coach Adams about that, she isn’t worried about that right now. She wants to finish out the year.”
The 15-year head coach is currently a two-time C-USA Coach of the Year (2008 and 2012). Adams currently holds the program’s best overall record (271-183), and this year marks her sixth 20-plus game winning season.
Coming off a 2014-15 season that endured many obstacles and posted a disappointing 12-16 overall finish, Adams and her squad felt the need to bounce back this season and get their taste of vengeance. The “payback tour” motto this year has driven the squad to out perform other teams that embarrassed them last year, which they have done successfully with their 16 wins in conference.
“She brings out the best in us and she’s in it,” Turner said. “She was in it before the season started. Last year, with what we went through, she was there. She was tapping on our shoulder telling us ‘keep your head up.’”
During the battle against Charlotte on Saturday, Feb. 27, when all hope seemed lost, senior guard Starr Breedlove said that Adams never gave up hope on the team.
“She (coach Adams) just kept believing us,” Breedlove said. “She kept saying, ‘we got this, we got this—keep your heads up and keep fighting.’”
Breaking continuous records this season, such as best start in program history, adds to the credibility of this team led by Adams. The road ahead will undoubtedly bring challenges, but Adams strives for greatness with her team.
The Miners are seeking their first NCAA Tournament birth since 2012, and their first at-large NCAA Tournament bid since 2008.
Adrian Broaddus may be reached at [email protected].
