The women’s club basketball team traveled to the University of Maryland this past weekend to participate in a tournament that would decide the national championship, but finished fourth in its division.

N.C. State competes in a conference called the East Coast Women’s Basketball League. The league encompasses a large area in the Southeast region of the country and includes in-state foes such as UNC, Duke, ECU and Elon. The league also includes Virginia Tech and Maryland.

Guard Caitlin Brady, a sophomore in biological sciences, said the competition is tough and that it requires the girls to work hard and maintain a high level of play.

“The competition is stiff,” Brady said. “We play some really good teams. It’s not varsity, but we are not going out there and playing a bunch of pushovers. We are playing against good athletes who really care about the game and are serious about winning.”

Rachel Hyatt, a junior in chemical engineering, attributed the success of this year’s team to the progress and dedication of the younger players that have come in and made an impact on the team.

“They are coming along really well. I think we have better team chemistry this year than we have had in the past,” Hyatt said. “The girls that came in had the attitude that they would do whatever it took to win and that has been nice as we have been teaching them how to play.”

Basketball, for the girls on the team, is an outlet for the frustration and stress that accompanies studying and other academic endeavors. Brady said that playing on the team allows her to forget about school and enables her to have fun.

“I love it. I played basketball all my life. I didn’t play last year and it really got to me because basketball was my outlet. I mean when I started playing my life changed,” Brady said. “Basketball was the thing that kept me going and kept me from getting down.”

Coach Stephanie Coates, who has been involved with women’s club basketball since its affiliation in 1999, enjoys coaching the team — a team she once played for.

“I really enjoy giving back. I enjoy seeing the program flourishing,” Coates said. “It is a really good group of girls. They are athletic, passionate, and they work very well as a team so my passion for basketball works hand in hand with enjoying seeing them be successful.”

Coates said she feels fortunate to have seen the program progress from one where the girls had to fund everything to one where the University furnishes a lot of the team’s costs. The team travels out of state several times a semester, so costs include travel, food, hotels and tournament fees.

“We started out having to come out of our pockets to buy our own jerseys and equipment,” Coates said. “Now, we get our own money and we can do a lot more and travel to more tournaments than we could before at the expense of the University. This gives players the opportunity to enjoy the game.”

Coates said having a tough mentality in playing the game is critical. She has several male athletes come to practice to play against the girls in an effort to increase mental toughness.

“It makes them tough, and mentally it prepares them for just about anything,” Coates said. “Guys aren’t going to hold back, and it pushes them to play above the level that they are used to.”

“I just want to get them in the mindset of smart basketball and what to do when the odds are against you. Because you can still win even though a team may be physically better and more talented than you are.”

Brady said she owes a lot of her enjoyment of playing on the team to the fun she has with her teammates when they’re not playing basketball.

“I love the girls on the team. We hang out all the time. We went to the club last week. We are really good friends and get along,” Brady said. “It’s not like we just play basketball and go home. This is the group of people that I hang out with and have fun with.”

Last tournamentState went 1-2 in the tournament at Maryland this past weekend. It won the first game 46-40 against Georgetown in a game in which junior captain Rachel Hyatt said the team didn’t play to its potential.

In the second game, Villanova overpowered State and handed the team a 20-point defeat.

In the final game, in-state rival UNC-Charlotte hit clutch free throws down the stretch to win 72-68 against State. The team ended up placing fourth in its division. Hyatt, who was disappointed with the team’s failure to win the championship, said she was pleased with the team’s effort.

-David Boaz