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Welcome to The Amy Eagan Podcast. Every Saturday Lindenwood University's Head Women's Basketball Coach Amy Eagan talks women's basketball and much, much more. We'll talk about past games, future games, players, the OVC, the NCAA, academics, careers, and many other interesting topics.
Gary D Stocker (00:00.985)
Welcome to the Amy Egan show where each week, Linda Wood University head women's basketball coach Amy Egan joins us to talk about basketball for sure and academics and NIL and the NCAA, the Ohio Valley Conference and much, much more. Coach, after eight long months, we had basketball yesterday.
Amy Eagan (00:18.914)
Yeah, it was about time. like it, it kind of felt like I had never left with this group, but it also felt like it's been a long time and a lot of practices.
Gary D Stocker (00:30.057)
And it was Education Day. for those that don't know what Education Day is, and Linda was not the only one that does it, but talk about Education Day and the environment that was at Highland yesterday.
Amy Eagan (00:42.198)
Yeah, I would say most teams around the country do it, at least on the women's side. It's a day where you have kind of a mid-morning game, like ours was 11 a.m. and you invite all the area elementary schools and...
Ask them to bring at least a classroom or the full school and fill the gym and it's just a really fun day. I mean, I think you know some of the comments I've gotten before just about how you know some kids have never seen what a women's college basketball game looks like, whether it's boys or girls. You know, I just posted a picture on my account that was sent to me from a teacher of about five boys with hanging out with a poster with one of one of my players, you know, like.
The impact you can have on young people is so important and I think we have such great role models in our program that do that. So it's a really fun day but also I think a really, really important day and good day for the youth of our community.
Gary D Stocker (01:42.221)
and you were probably otherwise occupied during the game, but there was a lot of singing and dancing taking place in the stands.
Amy Eagan (01:48.748)
Yeah, it's I always say it's like one of the most fun days as a coach, but it's also like one of the worst days as a coach to coaching, because there's no point in trying to tell him something on the floor. You literally have to get them all in a huddle every single time to tell him anything, and you still don't know if they hear you. But I think the kids have a lot of fun. You know, I think they, you know, our game committee does a really good job of getting the right music and the right songs and all that kind of fun stuff that's going on for him. So it's a really, really good day.
Gary D Stocker (02:18.821)
And even at end of game, I noticed that you have the players walk up into the stands and do high fives and that kind of stuff. That's gotta be good for both parties.
Amy Eagan (02:25.868)
Yeah, I think it definitely is for both parties. I think our kids are really appreciative of the opportunity that they have here. I think they know the importance of that. I think some of them had that when they were younger growing up, where they sat in their stands and started forming dreams of playing on a college floor and playing a college sport. And so I think they really enjoy it.
Gary D Stocker (02:51.151)
So back to the game. Top lessons learned, top things you learned about this team from the game yesterday. And for those that didn't follow, Linda Wood won handily yesterday.
Amy Eagan (02:57.528)
Yeah.
Yeah, so yeah, we set the school record for the largest margin of victory in program history. yeah, so that was really good. But I think the number one thing I learned about my team yesterday was that, and that I was proud of, is that we played 40 minutes really freaking hard.
You know, we talk a lot about habits and not worrying about if you're up or down and just playing the same way. And I thought our kids really did that from top to bottom. I thought every single one of them played every possession to the best of their ability. And it was just nice to see that we just really played a complete game, I think both sides of the ball.
Gary D Stocker (03:46.757)
And one of the things you and I talked about off of the microphone is the seven young women who were freshmen two years ago and are now juniors. And it's a fascinating case study. Two years ago, they were freshmen, Amy, in your program. And I asked this question during the post-game news conference yesterday. I want to ask you the same question. It was 99-all, and Ellie Brueggemann and Anna McCarn had a 2-0 break. Ellie had the ball in her hands, could have easily scored the 100 points. And what does she do? She passes it.
Amy Eagan (03:59.18)
I know.
Gary D Stocker (04:16.334)
to the freshman. What does that tell us about Ellie in particular and this group in general?
Amy Eagan (04:21.078)
Yeah, I mean, I think it just says a lot about our kids character. I think we had 31 assists yesterday and you know that they just they they don't worry about any of the individual success. They just want to win and you know and whatever that looks like, know, and the ability to share the ball and what they did yesterday showcasing that. I mean that just is a prime example of of who they are as people, their character, you know what what mission they're on here together.
I just think it shows all that.
Gary D Stocker (04:53.861)
And you had three new players to your program with a lot of manage yesterday, but today I'm going to talk about the two freshmen, Mallory Norwood and Anna McCarron. Just as freshmen, that was a good first look, wasn't it?
Amy Eagan (05:05.602)
Yeah, I think it was, you know, I think, you know, as I told both of them before they went in the game, you would not be going into this game if you were not ready. And, you know, I didn't feel like you had prepared yourself in practice to compete and to help us win. I think both of them have done that. And I think that's a big reason, you know, you saw what you saw on the floor when they got out there. I'm sure there was some nerves, but I thought both of them settled in really fast and
really just fit in really nicely with us. I both what they did defensively, offensively, rebounding-wise, steal-wise for Valerie. I mean, she led us in steals with five. Like, I think sometimes as a freshman, that can be a little bit hard, but thought both of them really played to their strengths yesterday.
Gary D Stocker (05:52.805)
And you shared before either on the podcast or elsewhere that when you bring in players, freshmen, transfers, whatever, you never really know what you're going to get. But now that you've seen really all their players that were dressed out yesterday play, you got to feel a little bit more comfortable that you've brought in some good folks.
Amy Eagan (06:09.602)
Yeah, absolutely. mean, we take a lot of time in the recruiting process to make sure we watch them a lot, to make sure that they can play our style, that they can fit into who we are, that depending on sometimes youth first, how experienced you are, how quickly they can play, all that kind of stuff plays a factor when you're evaluating kids and that. then we always dig deeper after that to find out what kind of kids they are, what kind of people they are, what kind of students they are.
you know, all that kind of stuff because it's important. And so I think, you know, with those two, I think we got pretty much the complete package with both those two. So we guessed right, I guess, if you want to say that, but we do do a lot of research and we do a lot of, you know, investing and figuring out relationship-wise who they are. And I'm just really happy for both of them, but also really grateful and thankful that we have them here at Lindenwood.
Gary D Stocker (06:51.685)
I
Gary D Stocker (07:06.405)
And then from Harris Stowe University, you jump on the airplane to head to Waco, Texas and the University of Baylor on Sunday. What are your expectations for your team and for what you'll see at Baylor?
Amy Eagan (07:17.676)
Yeah, well, I mean, we know it's going to be a challenge. I mean, they're one of the best teams in the country. They just upset number seven in the country. So we know it's definitely going to be a challenge. They're bigger, faster, stronger, more athletic. You know, I think for us, I think it's going to be a really, really good thing because, you know, I have no doubt with the experience that our kids have that they're going to go out, they're going to prep the same way. They're going to have mentally the same focus.
They're going to approach the game the same way, and we're going to see where that takes us. And whether we win, whether we lose, we're going to learn from it. And that's really what non-conference is about, is growing and finding ways to continue to improve. And I feel really good about this group, and I think we did take another step from even the year before at this time. It's crazy how these kids just keep moving forward and moving forward and moving forward.
I'm just really happy with that. So again, I'm excited for the opportunity. I think it'll be really, really good for our kids. And I'm sure we'll be able to learn a lot of things about us.
Gary D Stocker (08:24.133)
So we will be back weekly with the Amy Egan show, talking about Lindwood basketball all the way through mid-March sometime. And so for those of you listening to the podcast, make sure you share it with friends and family and relatives and anybody else you can think of. And for those living in the St. Charles area or close, make sure that you get out to the Lindwood website, find the Lindwood women's basketball and come and watch these really, this really talented group of basketball players play at that NCAA division in one level. Coach Egan, always a pleasure. We'll talk again next week.
Amy Eagan (08:54.019)
Thanks, Gary. Appreciate you.