The Sonoma State Women’s Basketball team is finally on track to start its 2021-22 regular season after being held out of its previous season due to Covid-19. The on-going pandemic that has influenced the lives of many students as well as cancelations of whole sporting events for an entire year now seems to be calming down with many of SSU’s athletic seasons coming back to life.
Sports like soccer and volleyball have already started at the beginning of the fall semester and many more students and athletes would be pleased to hear that basketball is now a full go to occur this semester. Coming off of a 15-13 overall record in the 2019-20, the lady seawolves are now set to get slowly back into their groove as they have already finished two of their pre-season games at Chico State against Dominican and Fresno State. Their next game will be an away game against Sacramento State on November 16 followed by their first home game against Saint Martin’s only three days later.
While the women’s basketball team has lost several key players who were once seniors of the school such as guard Aaryn Pickett and forward Zane Sheckherd, the team is still confident that they can still make noise in their NCCAA division with the many talented and returning players still within the organization. One key player that is returning to the basketball courts is Taylor Johnson who has made her presence felt on the court while playing as one of the team’s guards. The returning Kinesiology major had much to say about the motives for entering this season after a whole year off.
“This season will be interesting for everyone just because we are back from having this entire year off, but everyone is anxious to get started and back to playing,” says Johnson.
“As one of the leaders of this team that is where I am also excited. I want to see my teammates and myself succeed and being someone that my teammates look up to is very important to me. My team’s goal this year is to stick to what we set at the beginning of the season. ”
Not only are there many important pieces returning to the basketball court with the SSU Women’s squad but there is also a huge volume of promising young talent that are ready to make their Sonoma State basketball debut. Camille Johnson, a kinesiology major, will be one of the many Seawolves who will be appearing for the SSU’s basketball team for the first time. Being a junior academically but a freshman athletically, Johnson started playing basketball since the first grade. Having a father who used to play basketball, her dad helped guide Johnson and her sister throughout the early stages of their basketball life and helped guide them into playing in CYO as soon as they were able to play. As Johnson prepares to play in her first NCCAA season no one seems to be more excited to play then her.
“As we enter this season, I’m really excited but also a little nervous,” says Johnson.
“But overall I am so excited to play and show that I’m built for this. I think we’re going to do really well this season, but we are always working to be better.
To learn more about the SSU basketball roster and to keep up with games and stats, head to the SSU athletics website.