After losing 50 straight, Rebecca Thompson and the Ladies started the 2015-16 campaign with a win. Centenary athletics photo

A win at the beginning of the season typically doesn’t carry a whole lot of weight. Not when the season lasts four months.

But the story is different at Centenary (La.), which until Friday, had lost its last 50 games dating to February 2013.

The streak ended with an 84-60 win over Dallas Christian and senior forward Rebecca Thompson, who scored seven points in the victory was nothing short of thrilled.

“It was awesome,” Thompson said. “We worked really hard in the preseason to get ready and it’s nice to have a win to show for it. I remember hugging the point guard after we won. It was surreal. Hopefully we can keep it going.”

It wasn’t easy getting through the tough times. Losing takes its toll on a team, especially an entire season of it. Or two.

“It was really tough,” Thompson said. “It wasn’t like we weren’t trying to get better every day, we just didn’t have the wins to show for our effort. We got through that tough time and I think we are better players because of it.”

Part of the turnaround is a credit to first-year head coach Justin LeBlanc. He spent five seasons as an assistant head coach for the men’s team at Centenary. He said he had always wanted to be a head coach and taking the position at Centenary made sense because he didn’t have to worry about moving somewhere else.

And the win on Friday made the decision that much more worth it. It was a positive first step for a program looking to continue to go forward.

“The win was a long time coming,” LeBlanc said. “The team was very excited after the win. Their eyes opened a bit. We know there are going to be ups and downs this year, but they realize that they can be successful and turn things around.”

Selling the program wasn’t easy, though, especially considering how far it had fallen. But he found a way to put a positive spin on everything.

“The one thing I told players was that they could come here and get a good education and be a part of the turnaround of a program,” LeBlanc said. “They could help change the culture and look back one day and realize they were part of something special because they helped turn things around here.”

Thompson said she has noticed a huge difference in how everything is run under LeBlanc.

“You really see how much things have changed,” Thompson said. “He has done a great job of changing the culture and has us working hard in practice. He’s helped us get better as a team.”

LeBlanc said part of that improvement involves getting back to the basics.

“We’re working on things like ballhandling and passing and focusing a lot on playing good defense,” LeBlanc said. “We want to have a solid foundation in place, and if the players continue to see that by doing things the right way, we will have success, we will continue to go forward.”

Thompson and her teammates certainly took time to savor the season-opening win but they are hardly satisfied.

“It would be easy to relax a little after winning a game, but we are staying hungry,” Thompson said. “We want to be even better and we know we still have a lot of work to do to get there.”

Milestone win for Carse

Hardin-Simmons head men’s basketball coach Craig Carse won the 400th game of his career Saturday as the Cowboys knocked off Schreiner 76-60.

Carse is 400-268 overall and is in his 25th season of coaching at the college level.

Carse has coached at every level of college basketball and has guided teams to titles in six different conferences. His 2014-15 Hardin-Simmons team earned a share of the American Southwest Conference regular season title.

Anderson off to strong start for Yellow Jackets

Katie Anderson scored 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Randolph-Macon’s women’s basketball team in its 72-67 win over Mount Saint Vincent Saturday at the R-MC Tip-Off Classic.

Anderson earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the tournament after recording her second consecutive double-double. She scored 26 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in a 79-75 win over Catholic on Friday.

Stormy Petrels dominate opener

Oglethorpe turned in an impressive offensive performance in its season opener Saturday, rolling to a 123-99 win over Toccoa Falls. The Stormy Petrels scored 65 points in the first half. The 222 combined points fell two shy of tying the record for most points in a game involving Oglethorpe. The 123 points was the most scored by the Stormy Petrels in a game since lighting up the scoreboard for 126 in 1994.

Connor Smith paved the way with 22 points. He drilled four 3-pointers along the way.

Methodist thrives off double trouble

Alexis Wallace and Jalisia Campbell each came through with double-doubles for Methodist in its 64-46 win over Salem Sunday.

Wallace poured in 24 points and grabbed 17 rebounds while Campbell finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds as the Monarchs improved to 2-0.

Jasmine Canady nearly had a double-double as well, tallying 10 points and eight rebounds.

Wallace is coming off a year where she averaged 10.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Campbell averaged 8.7 points per outing and also grabbed 6.8 rebounds per game. Both players have picked up where they left off a year ago.

Contact Me

If you have a great story idea or notable accomplishments that deserve a mention in this column, feel free to reach out to me at brian.lester@d3sports.com. You can also follow on Twitter @BLester1993.