GREAT FALLS — Last season did not end in the way the University of Providence women's basketball team hoped for, as it fell short in the NAIA national championship game to Dordt (Iowa).
After a long offseason, the team is set to hit the court for its first game Oct. 31 to begin a journey back to that national stage.
"After hearing the buzzer beep and you know we lost, I was ready to go again," preseason All-Frontier Conference player Keanna Salave'a told MTN Sports Tuesday. "I didn't want the season to end, but it did. So I think it just prepared us for the next season, and built up fire."
"We were leading the whole way, and it was pretty tough to come down at the end," Frontier preseason player of the year Ashlee Maldonado said. "I think that just shows where we can be next year, and that just kind of put fire under us."
Head coach Bill Himmelberg, Salave'a and Maldonado all think last year's run to the championship — as well as winning the Frontier Conference — benefits this season's team.
"(The players) understand the process we need to go through to get to a championship," Himmelberg said. "So we've got a long way to go, it's a long road and it's a fun season."
"We've got to see what we can do when we all lock in together and we're all on the same page, and we all want the same goal," Salave'a said. "It was very important because we had a very young group, so I think it was good for us."
"The future's bright," Maldonado said. "We come in every day, we've got to practice hard, I mean it comes one game at a time."
Having players like Salave'a and Maldonado on a team is a rarity, and Himmelberg said they make a big difference.
"They make the players around them a lot better," Himmelberg said. "When you have players that make everybody else around them better, it makes my job a lot easier as a coach."
As that first game approaches, they're becoming more and more prepared to start seeing other programs.
"I haven't talked to one girl that's not like 'I'm not ready for this game,'" Salave'a said. "We're all excited to play our first game, I mean we've been preparing for months."
"We're just ready to play a game," Maldonado said. "We've been going at it for a while, practice has been really fun and competitive, and (we're) just trying to bring that energy. But I think we're all ready to play someone different and kind of see where we're at, and see where we need to improve for this year."
The Argos head to Oklahoma City for their first two games Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 against the University of Science and Arts (Okla.) and Mid-America Christian University (Okla.).
