Davon Marion/Fourth Estate
The importance of adversity in winning the A-10 championship
BY LOUIS VOLKER, STAFF WRITER
Transferring back home to the DMV area to play my sophomore basketball season was an absolute honor. But there are no flowers without rain, and for my teammates and I, adversity was vital to creating our success this season.
There is no better word to describe George Mason’s women’s basketball team this year than ‘HERstory.’ The 2024-25 season was one of firsts, including: our program’s first-ever Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) championship win, our first NCAA tournament appearance and a 27-6 record, making both the most wins in a single season for our team and a first consecutive 20-win season.
After a preseason standardized by perfection, and that same high practice standard going into the regular season, we reached some amazing highs. We took on Goliaths, defeating big-name teams like Wake Forest and Georgetown. We achieved an NCAA NET ranking of 40th, our highest program ranking ever. Fairfax Mayor Catherine Read recognized our team’s accomplishments with a proclamation presented on March 1 to kickoff Women’s History Month.
We also adjusted to challenges, having prepped for high-pressure situations. This included a vital away game win against Rhode Island after a discouraging loss to Richmond. The scrappy Rhode Island win required both a comeback after a first quarter deficit and a defensive rally to recover from a Rams-led setback late in the game.
Though every success was celebrated, we never wasted time reliving the past. A phrase often repeated in practices after wins was: “Turn the page.” The message was always clear — great job, but the win is over now. The most important game is the next game, and no high is capable without some lows.
Should I rewind to our first loss of the season? When we just barely lost our grip on a 4th quarter lead to Maryland, a team that finished the season tenth in the nation? As exciting as it was to take the lead in the 3rd quarter of that game, the sting of the silence after the final buzzer of that game is just as strong of a memory.
Or should I revisit our very first team workout last spring? After what I thought was a successful run, we huddled for what I hoped would be praise from the Strength and Conditioning coach. The reality was disappointing. Despite the fact that we were wheezing, the team’s effort level was still insufficient. The necessary effort needed to achieve a conference championship became clear.
As enthusiastic as the team was about this goal, there was a point during the season where the pressure we put on ourselves felt sisyphean. Towards the end of the regular conference season, after a string of rough practices and two consecutive losses to Davidson and St. Joseph’s, that frustration was finally voiced.
Despite having achieved a historical season that wasn’t even over yet, my teammates and I felt that we just weren’t good enough. This was despite the fact that our coaches had invested countless hours into training us for these moments. It was the lowest moment of the season, and it was right before the beginning of the conference tournament.
Our head coach, Vanessa Blair Lewis, snapped us out of it the morning after our loss to St. Joseph’s. “You think we don’t believe in you? Are you out of your mind?”
It’s an important thing to remember, and something easy to forget. When someone you love expects you to achieve something, it’s often because they believe in your capability. Somewhere along the lines of the season, we had forgotten what the point of all the adversity was.
The good news was, we remembered in time for the conference tournament. I can confidently say that bringing our first-ever A-10 Women’s Basketball trophy home to Fairfax made everything worth it.
