A rough season for Suffolk University women’s basketball culminated in the end of a historic run for the program: Head coach Ed Leyden’s 29-year streak of playoff appearances is over.
Leyden, a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame for his historic success coaching the Rams, currently has a career record of 514-340 across 33 seasons with the Rams.
“Each year is different. We’ve tried to have a consistent, solid team. For the most part we’ve done that. 29 out of 30 isn’t bad,” said Leyden.
“I love Suffolk, I love coaching. I’ve been very fortunate with the girls who’ve come in and played for us, they’ve been high quality people. We’ve been able to compete with everyone,” said Leyden. “It’s a blessing to me, I’ve poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this program.”
A five-time coach of the year in Suffolk’s former conference, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, Leyden led the program through its transition into the Conference of New England maintaining its status as a perennial playoff contender.
The Rams made it as far as the CNE semifinals in 2023-24, losing to eventual CNE champions Western New England University.
With the Rams now out of playoff contention this season, Leyden has his eyes set on the future of this program.
“The lifeblood for all colleges is recruiting. We hope we have a strong recruiting class. We hope everyone comes back with one new thing added to their game,” said Leyden.
This season was a streaky one for the Rams, getting off to a scorching 8-1 start despite the departures of their senior leadership who played the majority of the team’s minutes last season.
It looked to be a new era for the Rams, with no seniors on the team and a new generation of players taking the wheel.
Unfortunately for the Rams, things came crashing down around winter break. They went into break coming off a loss to Emerson College, then came back from break and lost six straight games.
Leyden cited the injury to freshman Ariana Ingram, who averaged over 26 minutes per game, as a major factor in the team’s momentum falling. Ingram, a full-time starter for the team prior to injury, hasn’t played since the team’s Jan. 6 loss to the University of New England.
“We had a different starting lineup. That had a big impact on us. Excuses are for losers, others have injuries too, but that changed things big time for us,” said Leyden.
Going into next season, the Rams squad will be largely the same with an extra year of experience for all of the players. With no seniors on the squad this year, many players will be returning for another season with the Rams.
With his returnees and future recruits, Leyden is focused on seeing improvement going into next year.
“I really take it one practice at a time. My goal is to teach at practice and have a really great practice. If we can do that and be consistent, we’ll be able to compete a little better,” said Leyden.
Leyden noted that although this season didn’t go as hoped, he saw improvements in various aspects of the team. Despite the record, he was proud of how his leadership stepped up this season.
“I thought our leadership and dynamic was very much improved. I thought we had really good captains and really good practices,” said Leyden. “Graduation is part of everything. The silver lining is that a lot of people who didn’t expect to play actually played a lot. I think in the long run that experience will be good for them.”
Junior captain Ava Thurman said that she also sees hope for next season when the Rams get some of their players back from injuries. Though morale may have taken a hit this year because of those injuries, next season’s a new one for them.
With their recent victory over UNE on senior day, they showed a glimmer of what could be in store for next season.
“We had a tough time closing out some close games,” said Thurman. “If we just come with that energy and intensity there’s a lot of hope for us next year in these tough games. Most of all what’s going to get us through these close games that we thought we couldn’t come back from is heart.”
Thurman noted that coming back as a senior next year, there’s a lot of motivation to right the ship and come back stronger next season.
“If we finish off the rest of the season playing how we played the other day, I think there’s a lot to look forward to,” said Thurman.
With just two games remaining on their schedule, Leyden wants his team to remain true to their principles and fight hard.
“We respect our opponents, our league is very very good. We hope to fight everyone and compete to the very end,” said Leyden.
