By Aaron Waters
Daytona State Women’s Basketball is looking towards a strong finish in conference play for a chance at capturing a ninth championship. The Falcons are eyeing the competition that stands in the way of their goal of adding another title to the once dominant program.
The team has been trending upwards under Head Coach Cal Cochran and is primed for the post season.
“We are getting back to where the program originally was. In the beginning of the women’s basketball program a conference championship was the expectation. Last year, we won our first one since I’ve been here and hopefully this year we can have a back-to-back experience to begin to add on the foundation, we built years ago when I arrived,” explained Cochran, who has coached here for five years.
Of late, the Falcons have been playing high quality ball, extending a season high win streak to four games. The Falcons started a two-game home stand against Florida State College-Jacksonville in early February. The team pulled out a hard fought defensive battle, many times dictated by steals in traffic and competitive rebounding, with a 52-43 victory.
“We have four games remaining, we’re sitting in first place right now. Actually, we need to win out, but our destiny is in our own hands. If we can continue to improve every day in practice and prepare ourselves for the games we’ll be in good shape,” said an enthusiastic Cochran.
In mid-February, the Falcons welcomed conference rival Hillsborough Community College. Hillsborough had the Falcons number coming into the game, handing them their only two conference losses this season. Daytona State would finally persevere, however, with a one-shot victory, 54-51 in the third game.
With that tough win and positive play over the last month, the Falcons are building momentum as the post season quickly approaches.
“Well I think we are starting to peak at the right time. It’s late in the season and we still have to qualify for the state tournament, so we’re playing our best basketball right now,” said Coach Cochran.