'Getting out of the bottom': Confidence is key for Xavier women's basketball

Confidence isn't always the easiest designation to arrive at, but that's exactly where Xavier University's women's basketball team finds itself a week out from the start of the 2021-22 season.

After a couple of seasons in which wins have been hard to come by, the Musketeers' leadership team picked "confidence" as the word they want to live by on and off the court this season.

"Our word that we came up with that we want to live by every day is 'confidence.' That's just on and off the court confidence. In your shot, confidence as a woman, the way you talk to people, the way you stand up, the way you look at somebody in the eye. Empowering yourself as a woman confidently," said Nia Clark, a redshirt sophomore who transferred from Miami (Oh.) to Xavier before the 2019-20 season.

Melanie Moore, who's entering her third season as Xavier's head coach, said, "I think it's great that they came up with that (word) themselves and they've been owning it and we talk about it a lot. You can use it in all aspects of your life. We will have little conversations here and there about confidence and being confident in who you are, and speaking your voice."

Confidence in the face of uncertainty is no small task, but the Musketeers know that to get to where they want to go, it's a vital component of the process. Xavier's 8-37 over the last two seasons with only four Big East wins, so the goal right now is fairly simple.

"Getting out of the bottom, we want to get to the middle, and that's our goal," said Moore. "... We're getting to the middle. And what does that look like every day? It's hard work, hustle, sacrifice. It's a lot of things."

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In order to chase that goal, Moore and her coaching staff added seven newcomers to the roster this season – four transfers and three freshmen.

The transfers all have high major experience. Shelby Calhoun joins the Musketeers from Virginia Tech. Mikayla Hayes played at Florida and Clemson. Taylor Smith was at Ole Miss and Shaila Beeler was at Indiana and Vincennes University. 

The new freshmen are Kaysia Woods, Kaybriana Hallman and Aanaya Harris. 

They'll join six returners in Clark, redshirt junior Ayanna Townsend, junior Courtney Prenger, sophomore Megan Harkey, sophomore Mackayla Scarlett and junior Kae Satterfield. 

Clark and Townsend were Xavier's representatives at Big East Conference media day and Moore said she chose them because they're leaders, extensions of the coaching staff. 

"I think we've bought into the process, bought into the standard," said Clark. "And with all these new people, we're just bringing them along and they're bought in." 

To which Townsend added, "It's a lot of new people, new faces, different styles, but I feel like when we bring it all together, it's gonna work well." 

The Musketeers open the season on the road at Memphis on Nov. 9 before a trip to Utah on Nov. 13. The home opener for the women is Nov. 17 against Miami University.