Even as it has racked up 25 wins in 25 games, the University girls basketball team isn’t all that fixated on its start to this season — as impressive as that start may be.
The Bulldogs would much rather have a flawless finish — a finish they hope produces the first state championship in program history.
Nonetheless, there is one start that carries a little more weight for University.
The Bulldogs came into this weekend dead set on getting off to a strong start to their postseason campaign, knowing that championship teams don’t develop that championship-level swagger, discipline and focus merely in the latter rounds. That momentum begins now, even as University faces lower seeded teams that aren’t too likely to pose a tangible threat to the Bulldogs’ title aspirations.
“It’s extremely important to start strong and get going, because when we do get later in the tournament, it’s just going to keep getting harder and harder,” said Bulldogs junior Maddie McNair, the team’s second-leading rebounder. “We needed a kick-start. Just coming out strong and having confidence in ourselves — but not too big of heads — is really important.”
University engineered exactly the state tournament start it desired this weekend.
The top-seeded Bulldogs imposed their will defensively Friday in a wire-to-wire 56-20 win against No. 32 Eagle Ridge Academy in the tournament’s first round.
A day later, they gave their home fans an encore performance, defeating No. 16 St. Mary’s Academy 67-28. With those wins, University (25-0) advances to take on No.9 D’Evelyn (22-3) in the quarterfinals at the Denver Coliseum at a to-be-determined time Wednesday. The Jaguars were responsible for eliminating the Bulldogs from the postseason the past two years.
As seriously as University has approached these early round games, Bulldogs leading scorer and rebounder, senior Addison Harding is quick to point out, there needs to be a balance.
University senior Janay Kravig, right, drives to the basket around her Eagle Ridge Academy defender while playing in the regional tournament in Greeley on Saturday March 8, 2025.(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)Harding and her teammates aren’t taking anything from granted, despite their top seed and undefeated record.
They are approaching every game with uncompromising focus and professionalism.
Still, University is at its best when it’s playing loose and having fun.
Despite the serious results they’ve produced this season, the Bulldogs aren’t a team that takes themselves too seriously.
“When we get too serious, that’s when we struggle,” Harding said. “We need to still have fun. … We have many different leadership styles. We have our more serious leaders. We have our more fun leaders. And, that helps us on the court a lot.”
Harding and her teammates are having plenty of fun right now, all while buckling down when it’s time to step on the court in this win-or-go-home postseason format.
University coach Matt Baumgartner said that while it is nice to be the top seed in a statewide, 32-team postseason tournament, and being undefeated heading into the final week of the season is an accomplishment in itself, those certain aren’t the Bulldogs’ ultimate goals.
“They’re hungry,” Baumgartner said. “We started talking early on, even before the season, about what our goals are. It wasn’t to go undefeated. It wasn’t to beat a certain team. We have goals that are bigger and are for each other. They are for us as a group. And they are for this school.”
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