California Lutheran University’s women’s basketball team celebrated senior night with a 77-71 victory against the Whittier Poets on Saturday, Feb. 15.
Before the game, a ceremony was held for the seniors on the team, recognizing their accomplishments on the team. Each member was gifted a frame with their jersey number and joined by members of their families on the court.
Junior point guard Janna Holley said that despite the loss the team encountered last week against Occidental College, the team is feeling better from the win.
“Definitely needed. We didn’t play the way we wanted to, but we were still close. Which proves that we’re still good, no matter if we are playing good or not. Just, this is for the seniors, so it was even more special,” Holley said.
Holley said the team has big goals as they head toward the end of the season.
“I love my team. We’re going to be SCIAC [Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference] Champions, and they are the best, and I love my seniors,” Holley said.
Head Coach Kelli DiMuro said she teaches her team compassion, skill, and love for the game, which is her philosophy as a coach.
“I want to treat it like a family, I want the girls playing with joy. I want them to come to practice and love each other and play for each other, so, that’s my coaching philosophy along with we wanna push the ball, … we wanna be aggressive rebounders, meaning, like, that we wanna beat everyone on the boards and that we defensively want teams to fear us,” DiMuro said.
DiMuro said this night is special for the seniors and particularly more emotional than usual, as she ends a chapter in her career of coaching her daughter, senior center Aliya DiMuro.
“They add so much to the team and I think just I love to see how they play for each other and they you know, it’s really special to have them be selfless … This night is especially fun for me to watch them, and it was an emotional night because my daughter is graduating,” DiMuro said.
Sophomore forward Alline Ballard said that in light of senior night, the ultimate goal for the team was to get this win not only for the team overall but for their senior teammates.
“I knew from the bottom of my heart, like, all of us knew that we were going to win this game for the seniors no matter what. Like yeah, it’s sad to see them go, but, like, I know that our bond will carry on after they leave,” Ballard said.
Ballard said she felt great about this win following the team’s loss against Occidental the previous Monday.
“Oxy was just a bad loss in general. We weren’t playing how we were supposed to play and then we came to Whittier, well Whittier came here, we played like we usually play, even over how we play, we over exceeded it, and we won the game. So, we just beat the number one team, super excited,” Ballard said.
Senior center Aliya DiMuro said playing for her mother for the past five years of her college career has been amazing.
“It’s been amazing playing for her for five years,” Aliya DiMuro said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, honestly.”
Aliya DiMuro said wrapping up her last few games of the season has been a challenge.
“So, I’m a grad student, so this is a program that I’ve been a part of for five years now, and I’ve watched it change. We’ve had our ups and downs, so just leaving a team where I feel like I’ve left a legacy is gonna be really, really hard for me but this is my favorite team that I’ve ever been on,” Aliya DiMuro said.
With this win, the Regals snapped the Poets’ 13-game winning streak and became the first team in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to beat them this season. The Regals also advanced to second place in the SCIAC standings. The Regals’ next game will be away against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
