The women’s basketball team didn’t have the successful season it was hoping for, but the team is looking forward to the next season.

The Lady Mustangs finished the season with a conference record of 7-15 and an overall record of 7-21. Like any team, the Mustangs had hoped to continue the season and make it into the playoffs. However, the Mustangs fell two wins short of making it to the Lone Star Conference playoffs.

This season, the Lady Mustangs hired a new coach from Texas Wesleyan. Head coach Brenita Jackson had her first season as the coach for the Mustangs. When Jackson accepted the job with the Mustangs, she brought a few of her players from Texas Wesleyan with her as well as her assistant coach and husband, Kevin Jackson. 

“There was a learning curve. But,  I think the biggest thing was adjusting to a new place, a new school, a new way of doing things, a new conference. There were a lot of new things here. It took us some time to kind of adapt to it and understand the new rules,” Jackson said. 

One player that made the trip with the Jacksons was Zarria Carter, criminal justice junior. Carter led the team in points per game. This is the third year that Carter has played for the Jackson.

“I played for her at our previous school. So I transferred.  This is my third year playing for them,” Carter said. 

Jackson said she thought the season went well – for a first season. Having brought a few players with them, and the returning players, Jackson thought that her players played well for this first season.

“I thought overall it was good. I thought it was a good first season if you will. I mean not just with the players we bought over, or the ones that were retained, and then we brought in some new ones, like Catalina, who were new to MSU as well. So, bringing in ten new players, it was a huge adjustment for everybody, but I thought overall it went well,” Jackson said. 

Not only did the Jacksons have to adapt to a new way of coaching and new environment, the players did too.

“Absolutely. Yeah there is always a learning curve, even if you are here ten years, you better still be learning,” Jackson said.

At the end of the 2022-2023 season, the Lady Mustangs were sitting in 16th place in the conference. Under the leadership of the Jacksons, the Mustang rose to an 11th place finish.

While many people wouldn’t see that placing as a great finish, Jackson said she sees it as a season where the team had improved. 

“We went from 16th place in the conference, dead last up to 11th. So that is progress. It is not as high as we set our goals for. But progress is progress and you have to be proud of that,” Jackson said.

Carter had similar sentiments about where the team stands after this inaugural season for the Jacksons.

“We beat two top teams in the conference that went to the conference tournament, and then we were close to beating LCU, we took them into overtime. Just knowing that we are right there and that we have even more fire power coming in next year. We know we need to do our part, as individuals to come back even better,” Carter said.

There were many factors that went into the Lady Mustangs’ success, but one main point that Carter hit on was communication. She said that when the team communicated, the outcome of the game was better than when there was no communication on the court.

“On the court, I would say when we communicated, consistently, in the game, about the game, that was really the difference in those closer games, and the games we won,” Carter said.

Carter vowed that during her senior year, there would be even more communication, whether from her or from other leaders on the team.

“This upcoming season it will definitely be a lot more vocality from myself and also from our point guard. We have a lot of younger girls coming in, and so bringing them in and making sure that they know what the standard is,” Carter said.

Moving forward, the Lady Mustangs are looking to expand on this season’s success and learn from their weaknesses. Carter emphasized first on communicating, but also on dominating in the game in rebounds.

“Rebounding. If you are rebounding well, you’re going to control the game nine times out of ten. I mean sometimes, yeah, you will still lose, but nine times out of ten if you out rebound the other team, you’re going to win,” Carter said.

One area Jackson wants to focus on is recruiting. Coming in when she did, there wasn’t much time to recruit the players to build her team.

Carter said the team is in a rebuild and the new players realize that and are still eager to learn. 

“We are recruiting players that fit that style and believe in that style, and want to carry the vision, and want to meet the expectations. I think the key to it is recruiting the players that believe in what you believe in,” Carter said.

Jackson said she puts value in the player she coaches, trying to build them up not only as an athlete but as a student involved in the community as well.

The Lady Mustangs have a group of supporters, the Three-Point Club. Jackson and her players value the time and money that their supporters have put into them and love to be able to give back in any way they can.

“Off the court, we really got into the community, with the community service hours. We did more with our donors. We kinda had some lunches and like meet and greets. Just kinda keeping them in the loop of what was going on in the season. Bringing in some supporters and making them feel like they are part of the whole season,” Carter said, adding, “Our coach set it up but we were interested, like we wanted to.”

Jackson has her sights set on winning the Lone Star Conference. She doesn’t know when that will come to fruition, but she still continues to build up her team.

“Our plan and our goal is still to win the Lone Star Conference, and we believe every year is an opportunity to recruit, get better, and do that. That doesn’t mean that we are going to do it, but if you set a goal to finish tenth, then you know. Or even if you don’t set a goal at all, then that’s terrible. Every year we believe it’s important to set goals  that make you stretch, that make you feel uncomfortable, and challenge you. That’s how you see progress,” Jackson said.