Psychology sophomore Catalina Cortez marked her spot on the women’s basketball team this year as one of the top players during her first year competing for MSU.

During her freshman year, Cortez played for Mary Hardin Baylor University where she was named to the All-American Southwest Conference Freshman Team. In her transition to Midwestern, Cortez mentions she was surrounded by leaders from coaches to senior players who had more knowledge of the game and more experience playing at this level. For Cortez, this presented an opportunity for her to grow and challenge herself not only as a player, but also as a leader. 

“I came in not really knowing what my role was going to be,” Cortez said, “ I knew what I was recruited to do, but I knew I was an underclassman and I had a lot of Seniors above me. And from my position we had a senior who the coach has played with and trusted for a long time, so I was expecting to come in and learn from her.”

However, Cortez had to adjust quickly after an unexpected roster change put her in a tough position.

“About a couple weeks into the preseason our starting senior point-guard, she was a fifth year using her COVID year, quit. And so, I was really thrusted into a role of leadership,” Cortez said. 

Cortez did not back down from the challenge, instead embraced her new role as the Mustangs’ starting point-guard.

As she puts it, “I knew I could come in and make an immediate impact and I did.”

One of the best matches the Mustangs have played this season, according to Cortez, was its away game against Angelo State in February where the Maroon and Gold bested the Rambelles 75-73.

“Angelo State is a very good team, and no one expected us to win that game,” Cortez remembers, “but we showed that . . . what matters is your heart and how bad you want to win.”

What makes Cortez an outstanding leader is her dedication to the sport and her team. The home game against Cameron in December represented a “break-out” moment for Cortez, leading the Mustangs to a memorable victory against the Aggies. After her performance, Cortez received recognition as LSC’s Defensive Player of the Week. 

“I help guide my team and lead them in the right direction as well as myself and just having standards outside of basketball and putting in extra work. I think it helps my teammates when they see a leader going the extra mile and it pushes them to do that too,” Cortez said.

While she was trying to present herself more as a leader for her team, there was a point during the season where Cortez was having a hard time believing in her game.

“I was recruited to be a shooter and my percentage wasn’t where I wanted it to be so my confidence got really low, and I just started questioning if I could do it,” Cortez said.

Head Coach Brenita Jackson played a substantial role in helping Cortez regain her self-confidence helping her solidify the connection within the team.

“Coach Jackson never once told me, ‘we’re going to stop playing you as much because I don’t think you can do it,’ she is always supportive, she’s never going to stop believing in you, so you will never stop believing in yourself.” Cortez says, “I started to see improvements toward the end of the season and that was encouraging.

Next year, Cortez plans to take her leadership role one step further, as they will be almost completely rebuilding their team. With most of this year’s players not returning, Cortez, along with criminal justice junior Zarria Carter and criminal justice sophomore Zionna Barbee will have to set the standard for the incoming set of players.

With the Mustangs transitioning to almost entirely new format, Cortez has big plans for the upcoming season.

“The biggest goal I have is winning the conference tournament,” Cortez said, “We’ve talked about not only making an impact in the Lone Star Conference but on a national level as well. We want to make the national tournament and get as far as we can.”

To achieve these goals, Cortez says everybody will need to put in a lot of hard work and commit to each other as teammates.

“We have a bunch of new girls coming in and the four that we have here will have to set the culture and teach the new ones the standards that the coach has, and I think it’s just going to take a buy in from each individual person on the team,” Cortez said.

With Cortez presenting herself as a resilient leader, the sophomore is looking to carry this momentum into her junior year, where strong leadership will deliver the right message to help the team achieve success.