As Southern’s women’s basketball team prepares for their next NCAA tournament game against top overall seed UCLA, two of the SWAC champion Jaguars’ key players discussed why Baton Rouge feels like home for them.
“I felt like going there, it would feel the best as a homey environment and everyone would get along because some players, they go somewhere and it’s not really a good team chemistry,” senior guard Aleighyah Fontenot said. “All four years here at Southern has been a really good team chemistry.”
“Just talking to the coaches, I knew I would have a great relationship with them,” added senior guard Soniyah Reed. “Being able to meet some of the players when I was able to visit on games and stuff was really nice.”
Fontenot and Reed are both four-year players with the program, with each contributing to the Jaguars’ second NCAA tournament appearance in the past three seasons.
Fontenot has started every game this season, averaging 7 points per game while leading the team in free throw percentage (80.4) and placing third in assists (63).
Reed is the team’s sixth woman off the bench, averaging 9.8 points per game and leads Southern in three-pointers made (50) and three-point percentage (37.9). The Louisiana native also agreed with Fontenot that the home-like atmosphere was helpful in her decision to attend Southern.
“I’m from Slidell, so I’m not far from Southern. It was cool to also have a chance to stay home, as well,” she said.
Both players agreed that head coach Carlos Funchess and his staff made it an easy decision for them.
“Just talking to Coach Funchess and Coach J and the rest of the coaches, it really felt like they cared about us as players, Fontenot said.
“They were really consistent in recruiting me,” Reed explained. “I would say that I enjoyed speaking to them. They made me feel wanted like they really wanted me.”
