Box Score RICHMOND, Va. – The curtain came down on the 2022-23 season for the Mississippi University for Women men's basketball team with an 84-58 loss to Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse in the consolation game of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) tournament at Virginia State University. The Owls end the year with an 11-15 record, matching the young program's record for most wins in a season.
The Owls quickly found themselves behind the eight ball early versus the Bobcats (20-8). MUW trailed at the half, 47-29.
The W was paced by junior guard
Andrew Shepherd's 14-point effort. Shepherd connected on 5-o-7 from the field and was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Senior
Shon Wright capped his MUW career with a double-double of 10 points and 120 rebounds. Teammate
Thomas Wright added eight points and five boards, while
Brye Hopkins chipped in seven points and five caroms, as well.
Josh Dukes also tallied seven points off the bench.
And while the 2022-23 campaign may not have had the ending the team wanted, Owls' Head Coach
Dean Burrows knows that his squad was laying a foundation for the future.
"It's been almost six months to the day since this group got started," Burrows reflected. "All season long we talked about simply trying to work and earn daily, the opportunity to have just one more practice and one more game together. This group was able to do that, and then some, in being the first team in program history to have earned the bid to a national tournament. Things might not have gone the way we had prepared and worked for up here, but this experience was more than a rewarding one. Our seniors were able to compete for a national championship and our underclassmen got valuable post-season experience that will help us as we continue to move this thing forward.
"We can't thank seniors Milos (Zeradjanin), Shon (Wright), and 'Q' (
Quintiyus Causey) for their sacrifices, heart, and work in moving the needle and they've left the jersey better than they found it, which is our mission for every player in our program. They'll always be a part of our family here and have a home with us no matter where their journeys take them. I can't wait to celebrate with them again when they receive their degrees and when they come back to speak knowledge to the next groups of Owls over the years. I love those young men and can never thank them enough.
"Those who we return - and also bring in - will be the first to have the opportunity to represent Owls Men's Basketball as an NCAA Division III program next fall and have the opportunity right away to compete for a SLIAC Championship, as well as a bid to the NCAA Tournament."
