By Jim O'Hara
 
ROME, Ga. – The four seniors want to win one – a big one – for their coach. The coach and the rest of the team want the game result in the foursome ending their careers on a winning note.

Such is the bond between the Shorter Lady Hawks, head coach Vic Mitchell and the four seniors – Karisma Boykin, Kristin Nash, Lynette Harris and Milena Samson – who take the court at the Winthrop-King Centre for their final game Saturday when Shorter hosts Gulf South Conference leader Lee in a 1 p.m. tip-off.

At stake: an opportunity to come up with what would be major GSC upset of the season, one that has fallen short of the high expectations the team started the year with, and finally give the Lady Hawks the program's 400^th win since Mitchell took the reins of it over the program 24 years ago.

And therein lays a common bond and love the players and the coach have with each other.

"I'd do anything for him," Nash said about her feelings toward her head coach, one shared by her three senior peers. "We've been trying all season long to get him that win but kept falling short. We want to do it for him so much."

Mitchell, however, sees that reaching milestone in a different light.

"The only thing I wanted the team to do this week," the coach said, "was to prepare for Lee for these four seniors. They've given us everything they can give to us so it's time we give them something."

Every Shorter player and every coach fully understand that in order to end the season on a winning note the Lady Hawks (6-19 overall, 4-14 GSC) will have to turn in a flawless performance against the Lady Flames (20-4, 16-2) who sit at the top of the conference standings.

Without question, the Lady Hawks can count on Nash, Boykin, Harris and Samson to bring their best games to the floor, where all four have had to increase their minutes, roles and leadership.

"Sure it's been disappointing but we have all developed strong relationships with each other," said Karisma Boykin, of Carrollton, an NCCAA All-American and the team's leading scorer last year who this season is averaging 11.4 points, a career-high 5.2 rebounds and handing out 3.8 assists a game. "We're leaving but we feel we're leaving something for the team that will help them in the future.

"I keep reminding them that they will have another chance to be successful."

Nash, who like Boykin transferred to Shorter three years ago and was willing to red-shirt that first season to help the program's transition into the NCAA Division II ranks, agrees with her teammate.

"We've tried to stay positive," Nash, who hails from Stone Mountain, said as she enters her last game wearing Shorter's uniform averaging 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds. "It's been hard but I don't regret anything. It's all a lesson of life."

The biggest lesson the Lady Hawks received came even before their first game when senior center and returning starter Lyndsey Crawford was lost for the season. After giving the team optimism with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double in an exhibition against Mississippi State, she injured her knee during a scrimmage and will now close out her career next year.

"Everybody had to do a little more," Mitchell said about how the loss changed the Lady Hawks' on-court chemistry and called on the seniors to add more minutes to the time in the game, "and they've tried hard to do that."

"It's what coach Mitchell and our teammates expect us to do," said Nash.

When Crawford went down, Harris understood that her role on the team became even more vital as the forward from Providence, Ky., was called upon to increase her contributions in the paint and help a young group of inside players develop quicker than had been expected.

She delivered on both counts as she averages 10.4 points and six rebounds, and has makes the most of the shots she gets, connecting on 54 percent of her field goals.

"It could have been a better season now that we can look back on it," said Harris. "We were in so many close games but we just couldn't finish them off."

Samson also knew she had to up her game and her minutes even more in her role as a reserve that was tasked with keeping the Lady Hawks in tempo.

"It was hard at first," the player from Sweden said, "but I knew I had to do what the team needed me to do."
It's a sure bet that all four seniors will do anything they can as the Lady Hawks battle to beat the odds, end the year on a positive note and secure Mitchell's 400^th win at Shorter.

"It's going to come eventually," said Mitchell, "but personally I'd love to see this team and these seniors do it.

"A season like this has been wearing on us, there's no question about it," he said. "But our foundation has been strong enough to keep us together during a tough season. It's helped that they've stayed together and have fought together.

"Every time they come back to practice, especially after losing a close game," Mitchell said, "they came back upbeat and positive. That's a credit to those seniors who gave us the leadership."