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Randolph said. "Mikayla is a great shooter and when she's open I'll look to get her the ball, and when I'm open she looks to find me." Even as a first-year, Ferguson is experiencing the emerging team camaraderie. "I get a sense this team is willing to do what- ever it takes to get over the hump," she said. "I feel like it started over the summer, working hard, giving our all, giving our all for each other and giving our all for the coaches. We sell out for each other. That's what we're doing every day in practice, and we're making strides." While speaking with Boyle about her team, you can see a gleam in her eyes and a confidence in what the team is becoming. You sense an excite- ment for what her women can achieve. "As a coach you watch your team's growth," Boyle said. "I've been with this program four years, watching what's been our Achilles heel, so as a coach I see it from a different vantage point. "When I look at this team, we have 11 to 12 girls, all healthy, we've covered all of our posi- tions and we're a year older. "There's a grind to this team. They're gym rats — they spend a lot of time in the gym on their own. They want to perfect their game. They're not afraid to talk about success. They want to be more consistent and they're a coachable team. "When you get a group of 10 to 12 young women all committed to the same thing, that's when things change. "This is a group that has embraced all those values, being happy for other people's success, putting the team first before yourself, all of those things that make great teams. That's a process — it doesn't come overnight." Randolph, a preseason all-conference selection, agreed with her coach. "We're really passionate about winning games," she said. "We have more of a fight in us where I feel like last year we kind of faded away. I think it's our grittiness this year." ◆