Morgan Carrier Lady Lion embraces her senior season
~Brynn Lundy Staff Reporter
The university’s women’s basketball team has started off the 2020-2021 season with a 3-3 record and several canceled games. Senior guard and forward Morgan Carrier, native of New Iberia,, has played no small role in the Lady Lions’ successes this season, scoring a total of 67 points so far. Within the first three seasons of her career with the Lady Lions, beginning as a freshman in 2017, Carrier has collected a total of 463 points, 107 turnovers and 166 rebounds. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many studentathletes had to say goodbye to the 2019-2020 season, which was cut short last March. Carrier, who wears No. 3, described how that experience influenced her motivation for this season. probably been the most rewarding. She’s grown as a person and as a player, on and off the court.” “It was an overwhelming type of feeling,” said Carrier. “We didn’t really know what to feel. It was surreal, kind of, because as hard as we worked to get there, it was like it was taken away from us. So, it made the players who returned want to go harder and realize, at any point, it could be taken from us again. We just go as hard as we can because we remember what happened last year.” Head coach Ayla Guzzardo, named to the position in April 2017, has been alongside Carrier’s journey at the university since her freshman year. Guzzardo described her experience with coaching Carrier throughout the years. “It has been a rollercoaster ride,” said Guzzardo. “No, it’s been fun. I’m not gonna lie, it’s always eventful. Watching her grow these past four years has probably been the most rewarding. She’s grown as a person and as a player, on and off the court.” Guzzardo shared how Carrier has improved her game since the season ended last year. “She’s gotten better defensively. She’s taken it personal. Offense is where she really shines, so defense is where she’s picked it up and she’s worked a lot harder at practice,” Guzzardo said. The first women’s basketball game of this season took place on Nov. 25, 2020 - 258 days since the last athletic event for the university. Carrier explained how she utilized the extended break to keep up her athletic drive and prepare for the current season. “Mentally, I just try to stay level-headed, even though sometimes my teammates have to bring me back down because I’ll either get too high or too low,” shared Carrier. “Mentally, I just try to stay the course because, like I said, we never know what’s gonna happen. Physically, I just have to make sure I’m getting in the gym, eating right, putting the right things in my body.”
