Emily Ostermann

Junior

Basketball

What inspired you to become an athlete?

“My parents and my family. Both of my parents are coaches and all of my siblings played when they were younger and I did as well because my mom was my coach. Just seeing how much fun they were having and just the process of it all just made me want to try it too.”

How has injury impacted your season?

“Well, I hurt my shoulder obviously two weeks ago so I had to sit out of the Washburn game which was going to be one of our biggest games of the season. It really killed me to have to sit there on the bench watching my team play knowing I couldn’t do anything to help them. Then I had a concussion at the beginning of the season so I just had to sit out of a few practices.”

What conclusions can you make about the rest of the season based on the team’s current status?

“I think the culture of our team has improved and I think it’s going to continue to improve as time goes on. We just have so much fun together and we all get along really well. Even during games where we might not be playing the best we’re still encouraging each other and I think that as the season goes on we’re all going to continue to grow closer and play harder and hopefully win some more games.”

What do you think is left to improve upon?

“I think when we get down in a game or if one person is playing bad they tend to focus on that and be like ‘oh I’m not shooting well so I’m not going to have a good game’ or something like that. I feel like that’s something we need to improve on by not getting in that mindset and just continuing to encourage that person where they’re’ like ‘it’s ok you might not be shooting that great but you’re helping us on defense’ or something like that to keep them going because if one person is down it can affect the whole team, especially if it’s a person who plays a big role on the team.”