The University of North Alabama Women’s Basketball team took on Queens University in an ASUN conference game with a Swiftie theme on Jan. 30. The night included face paint, bracelets, an on-court fashion show during halftime and a dance party featuring Taylor Swift classics.
North Alabama had a 5-4 conference record while their opponent had a 1-8 record at the time, giving UNA an advantage. Both teams were fighting for dominance in the first half. Queens had a lead of 4 points in the first quarter. The Lions fought harder in the second quarter and took a lead with a score of 34-32.
The Swiftie halftime show included children dressed up in Swift gear performing tricks and having a dance party with the UNA dance team. The children also got the chance to prove their loyalty to her music by singing their hearts out to “Shake it Off.”
Head coach Candi Whitaker dressed up for the occasion as well because she does not “typically coach in sequins.”
At the end of the third quarter, the Lions had an impressive lead of 16 points. Whitaker described how the team managed to get so far ahead.
“I thought our third quarter was just really good. I thought we were executing well on the offensive end and obviously making shots is a big part of that,” said Whitaker. “I thought we guarded well, our transition defence was better in that quarter and it really was the separation of the game.”
It was not until the fourth quarter where sophomore Katie Criswell shot the lights out by scoring a career high of three 3-pointers in a game, after which a campus-wide power outage stopped play for 49 minutes. The outage was followed by both teams warming up to finish the last 8 minutes and 12 seconds of the game. The final score was 87-62.
Even after the outage, the student section and band showed their loyalty to the Lions and cheered them on as they pursued the conference win.
Whitaker discussed her opinion on the game and her thoughts on the team even after the outage.
She said, “I thought our team handled the adversity of the outage extremely well. We were a little shaky in the first minute but they had great attitudes, they were upbeat, and then came out and played really well after that first minute”.
Senior Charity Gallegos led the game with 20 points and reached a career milestone of 1500 points. She expressed her feelings about her achievement and her excitement for the game moving forward.
“I think it’s a good accomplishment but I am just excited that we got the dub tonight,” said Gallegos.” “[I] am looking forward to West Georgia on Saturday.”
The Lady Lions will continue to prove their spot in the ASUN championship tournament with only eight games left in the 2024-2025 season.
