My Ten Favorite Images From the 2017-18 Xavier Women’s Basketball Season

This year I started shooting basketball much earlier than ever before in early October. It was fun being there during the Xavier Musketeer Madness. I have not seen a lot of midnight madness events as none of the other schools I am involved in have them. I was worried that I would be bored with basketball season even sooner with the early start, but for some reason this year I have had a blast making basketball images. From the start it has been fun. I saw this team the first time that they took the court this year, and I followed them until the last time that they left the court. Here are ten of my favorite images from this past season.

10. The countdown starts where the season started. That is in Cincinnati with Musketeer Madness. I loved the way that the teams were introduced to the crowd. Here Jada Byrd is introduced to the crowd at the Cintas Center. Those lights in the background were fun to photograph in different ways the entire night.

9. For the second straight year I have photographed the Xavier women’s team at Butler. For the second straight year the team won in Hinkle Fieldhouse. I loved this moment during the game as you can see just how hard fought that win was.

8. Here A’Riana Gray battles for a rebound during the Big East Tournament in Chicago. On the surface it does not look like too much of a battle, but the grabbing hands and flexed muscles really shows you just how much these two were straining.

7. This is the year of the anthem shot. It is hard to constantly get excited about photographing the anthem as I see so many during the year. When you are somewhere as cool as Hinkle Fieldhouse though you work the building into any shot that you can. 

6. Here is another shot of senior Jada Byrd this time during the Big East Tournament. I like the way that this shot turned out. It is another reason to use back button focus as well. If my focus would have been on the shutter button the hand in the foreground would have pulled my focus away from Jada.

5. Here Jada Byrd drives on her opponent during Musketeer Madness. I loved those lights in the background. A good gesture by Jada and the lights in the background made for an interesting photo for me.

4. This was my favorite photo from the Big East Tournament. You can see the battle that the game was. No shot goes uncontested. The light really seemed to work in my favor here as well.

3. Xavier won at Butler and started the season 1-0 in Big East play. The team was enjoying the moment in the locker room, and I was happy to make this shot.

2. One fun moment during Musketeer Madness came during the autograph sessions outside before the main event. I saw a mother sneaking up on her daughter and being filmed doing it. I casually moved over to get into position for the shot. The sheer surprise here made for a fun moment. These are the moments that are the most fun to capture.

1. My favorite photo also came from Musketeer Madness. The two seniors on the team battling it out on the free throw line. I love the idea of the two starting the season out on opposite sides. This was a fun year covering this team for a few games. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this team.