The Davidson College athletic department announced Friday that the remainder of the 2023-24 women's basketball season has been canceled due to a significant number of injuries.
According to the announcement on the college's athletics website, the Wildcats started the year a program-best 12-1, highlighted by a win at Duke, and conclude with 18-8 overall. The team had been scheduled to play their final game of the regular season that night at Saint Louis University.
Only seven players suited up for Davidson's last game, against George Washington last Wednesday, a 45-40 defeat. According to The GW Hatchet, Davidson sophomore guard Charlise Dunn posted on Instagram on Feb. 13 about a potential torn ACL and redshirt senior forward Ellie Sutphin has been sidelined since mid-January.
One day removed from Davidson's announcement, the Atlantic 10 Conference was forced to adjust its tournament seeding from a 15-team field to a 14-team bracket.
"The physical, mental and emotional toll of this unfortunate and injury-riddled season has brought us to this point," said Chris Clunie, Davidson's director of athletics. "We are incredibly saddened that we cannot finish out the season strong but feel this is the best decision for our scholar-athletes."
Added head coach Gayle Fulks, "The injuries we have sustained this season have weighed heavily on our entire program. This decision is not one that we are taking lightly, as no one wanted it to end this way. Our team of young women is the strongest, most caring, and most competitive team I have ever been a part of. They have been an absolute JOY to coach, every single day. Despite the challenging nature of the way this season has unfolded, our team never wavered and competed to the very end. I am confident there is no team in the country that would have handled the hardship we faced with as much grace, strength, and adaptability as our young women did. I am so proud of them."
