As she slowly walked toward the Baylor logo on the court inside the Ferrell Center, Shakira Austin was overcome with emotion. Players from South Dakota, the first-round opponent for Ole Miss in the recent NCAA women’s basketball tournament, had begun to celebrate nearby behind the Rebels’ senior center. The final seconds trickled off the scoreboard in the Coyotes’ 75–61 victory. Austin bent over as heartbreaking tears rolled from her eyes.
Her college basketball career, one that had been filled with valiant risks and change, had come to an end. In the teary eyes of the 6'5" star, who had been one of the nation’s most dynamic players this season, it showed that this was not how she wanted to end her Ole Miss career.
Filled with overwhelming disappointment, a trio of Austin’s teammates—Madison Scott, Mimi Reid and Lashonda Monk—came to console her. Rebels assistant Shay Robinson, Austin’s positional coach, struggled to watch her exit the court. “Her teammates pretty much carried her back to the locker room,” Robinson says. The Fredericksburg, Va., native was a fierce competitor and despised losing. She was built with a win-at-all-cost mentality and that mindset had been injected into the Ole Miss women’s basketball program.
