Triumphant Return

Gabrielle Ozoude was out of basketball.

A career running up and down the hardcourt, and the after effects of a devastating car wreck had taken their toll on the Rice University sophomore.

Ozoude needed to heal, so she spent two years doing just that.

When Ozoude was ready to return to the court, she found herself looking for a new place to play.

Not surprisingly, Southeastern University women's basketball coach Tim Hays was one of the many coaches looking to bring Ozoude's talents to his team.

After 25 games, what Ozoude has brought to the Fire has been something that Hays hadn't seen in his nearly two decades as a head coach.

"We feel like Gabrielle is the top scoring five-spot player we've ever had," said Hays, who will lead Ozoude and the Fire into The Sun Conference Tournament semifinals against Keiser on Friday night in Lakeland. "We've had several really really good ones. She's got the prettiest jump shot I've ever seen for a five-man, combine that with defense and offense and she's probably the biggest presence we've ever had at the five spot."

Ozoude has certainly given Hayes a lot to admire.

Despite only starting nine games, Ozoude leads the team in scoring with 15.5 points and rebounds at 8 per game. Ozoude was also named The Sun Conference player of the year on Thursday night. 

For Ozoude, who was named The Associated Press' Division II high school basketball tri-player of the year after her senior year at Bellbrook High School in Bellbrook, Ohio in 2016, the choosing Southeastern was something that was made possible thanks in part to Hays' success with past transfers.

"He mentioned that he had a lot of different people from Division I schools come through, and it seemed like something I should be a part of," Ozoude said. "It definitely was an influencing factor."

Ozoude joined a Fire team that was in need of a scoring touch after the four leading scorers from last year's top-ranked team either didn't return to school because of COVID-19 concerns or graduation.

The biggest loss was Taylah Simmons, who was the NAIA Division II national player of the year after averaging 23.8 points a game.

Ozoude was expected to more fill in for Marlena Schmidt, who was a 6-foot, 6-inch wall in the middle for Hayes.

While Ozoude isn't as tall as Schmidt at 6-foot-2, she has more than made up for the Schmidt's size with her other skills.

All it took was to shake off a little rust and to live up to a standard of excellence that Hayes has instilled at Southeastern.

"You don't want to come in to a good program and be the reason it's not good," Ozoude said. "There was definitely some pressure there. I had done some things in the gym, and some personal workouts, but it's different coming in to an organized workout. There was definitely a lot of rust from that standpoint. A lot of its mental, but it's also physical. Coach Hayes was very encouraging."

Now Ozoude will try to help Southeastern bring home an elusive national championship. 

The Fire haven't lost since November, and Hays thinks that this team has figured out how to keep that winning streak all the way to not only another TSC title, but also a national title.

"We may be a little bit late blooming, but I think our best is still yet to come," Hays said. "If we put that together, I'm excited to see where we end up. I think this team has figured out a way to battle."