After assuming the position of interim head coach last April, Semeka Randall-Lay led the Winthrop women’s basketball team to its first Big South Conference Quarterfinal appearance since 2014-15.
Well, technically, the Eagles didn’t win their way into the quarterfinal; they bypassed the opening round after Radford was forced to withdraw due to COVID-19 requirements, and the tournament bracket was reseeded.
But that doesn’t change the fact that Randall-Lay’s team put on a strong showing against the 2nd-seeded Campbell Camels, leading by four points at halftime against a team that had brutally beaten them twice much earlier in the season.
Winthrop didn’t win that quarterfinal match, but the team performed better than a lot of people probably expected it to do. As far as expectations, Randall-Lay’s squad was predicted to finish dead last in the Big South preseason poll.
Instead, the Eagles finished eighth in the conference standings (better than USC Upstate, Hampton and Charleston Southern) with a 5-15 conference record and a 6-18 record overall. That still doesn’t seem too good, but here’s what is impressive about it.
Winthrop lost its top two scorers from the 2019-20 season in Jah’Che Whitfield (transferred to Kennesaw State) and Kem Nwabudu (transferred to Wagner), as well as a full-time starter in Miquela Santoro (transferred to Milwaukee). After other players graduated and transferred, Randall-Lay had just six players return from last season’s roster.
That would be a tough situation to be put in during a normal year, but Randall-Lay inherited this mess one month into a worldwide pandemic. Still, she found seven players who were willing to come to Rock Hill – four freshmen to develop and three transfers to provide immediate knowledge and leadership.
Those players were big ‘gets’ for Winthrop, especially graduate student Madison Ervin, who played a team-high 29.9 minutes per game and finished second on the team in scoring with 158 points on the season. However, Randall-Lay relied heavily on her six returners – four of which saw significant increases in points per game and rebounds per game.
That’s probably because these players (all sophomores) also saw an increase of at least eight minutes of playing time per game compared to last season. Randall-Lay gave these players bigger opportunities than they had last year under Lynette Woodard, and they stepped up to the challenge.
Speaking of Woodard, I think it’s important to compare her time leading the team to Randall-Lay’s first season.
In 2017-18 (Woodard’s first season at the helm), Winthrop went 3-27 overall and 2-16 in conference play. Granted, Woodard also took over at a rough time (the team had gone 2-29 the previous year), but the fact still stands that Randall-Lay collected twice as many wins in her first season (with six fewer games on the schedule).
In the following season, Woodard’s team showed great improvement, finishing 10-20 on the season. If Randall-Lay’s squad made that big of a leap (roughly tripling their win total), Winthrop would be in contention for a spot at the top of the conference.
By no means am I predicting that Winthrop will win 18 games next season. The Eagles haven’t done that since 2013-14.
What I will suggest is that unless Dawn Staley decides she’s bored with perennially taking the Gamecocks to the Sweet Sixteen and beyond, the best chance Winthrop has at winning that many games (or simply just building upon what was started this year) is with Randall-Lay calling the plays.
Not only has Randall-Lay shown that she is capable of keeping the program afloat, but she has also proven that she can bring the best out of her players and help them outperform expectations set by others.
To reference a motto that became notable several years ago within the Philadelphia 76ers organization, “Trust the Process.” Randall-Lay has quoted this phrase often, and it’s what Winthrop Athletics should do by offering her the full-time head coaching position for the women’s basketball team.
Trust that she can recruit quality student-athletes. Trust that she can lead Winthrop to more victories. Trust the Randall-Lay process.
Photo courtesy of Winthrop Athletics
