McCully comes back for more

Emmie Boese, Assistant Sports Editor|November 8, 2021

Mariah McCully celebrates after the exhibition game victory against Missouri Southern State on Nov. 4 inside Charles Koch Arena.

To have a normal season for the Shockers is what fifth year senior Mariah McCully is striving for this season for the women’s basketball program. McCully came to Wichita State University after transferring from Wabash Valley College. However she was not cleared to play right away.

After McCully got cleared to play, she played in 26 0f the Shockers 31 games her junior year, while making 16 starts. She was also named Third Team All – Conference. Last season, McCully only got to play in 12 games while making six starts due to concussions, and COVID -19 quarantine rules.

Last season McCully started to doubt herself on whether she wanted to play college basketball again. However, when she was granted an extra year of eligibility she said that gave her a chance to still play no matter what her decision would be on ending her college basketball career early.

“I wasn’t sure if this was something I wanted to continue doing into my future,” McCully said. “I based it off of my summer. I had a really good offseason summer so I decided I wasn’t ready to put the ball down yet. I wasn’t ready to stop doing what I started my whole life. It was kind of a motivational thing to myself. I had to give myself my own boost of confidence like you are ready.”

McCully said she felt like in previous seasons with the Shockers she never got the opportunity to be a leader on the team due to transferring and injuries.

“I finally feel like I’m comfortable enough with the team to step up and actually play how I want to play,” McCully said. “I never really had that like foot in the door to be that leader so this year I feel like I’m there to do what I’m supposed to do.”

This season, McCully said she thinks that the team has the opportunity to win a conference championship and even make it to March Madness.

“I think we have a really good chance and a really good team like all around,” McCully said. “We can score inside, outside, were rebounding, our defense is looking pretty good, and we’re looking pretty healthy this year so that’s a great thing.”