Written and Media By Jaylen Shelton.
Laura Goodnight is a senior on Greenville’s Women’s Basketball Team. Her hometown is Bothell, which is a suburb of Seattle, Washington. She’s a double-major in Accounting and Business and, once she graduates from Greenville, she plans on getting her Master’s in accounting and going back to Washington.
Her team and classmate, Meredith Crosier, said, “Laura is a leader by example. She has faced a lot of difficulties in her career because of injury but has never let it affect her attitude or leadership.”
Goodnight is one of the five seniors currently on Greenville’s Women’s Basketball Team. While she has been on the team, she has helped them win a Conference and Christian National (NCCAA) Championship. This year, she has helped lead her team to host the Conference Championship for the first time in the program’s history. On Saturday, March 3, Goodnight, and the Women’s Basketball Team beat Trinity Christian to advance to the NCCAA Championship tournament. Winning another NCCAA Championship is possible and Goodnight could earn three of them altogether.
Goodnight’s love for basketball started when she was five years old. She played for the YMCA, where
athletes had to guard the person who had a matching colored band around their wrist. “I loved it. I enjoyed making friends by being on the team and being involved in something. I was homeschooled, so this was my way to make friends,” she said.
She continued to play at a private high school named Cedar Park Christian. It was at Cedar Park that she had one coach specifically who believed in her and poured a lot of effort into her development as a player. This helped her enjoy the game of basketball even more. During her senior year of high school, Greenville was not on her radar as a possible college to attend. She visited anyway because both of her parents graduated from Greenville. When she visited, the Women’s Basketball Team made her feel like she belonged here. “I was really drawn to the basketball program and Coach Mo and his emphasis on spiritual development. I saw a lot of people on the team that I wanted to be friends with,” she said of her decision to be a part of Greenville Women’s Basketball.
Goodnight has been a four-year starter and has played a total of 94 games thus far. In her career, she’s averaged 11.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks, which is 1120 total career points, 487 rebounds, and 122 total blocks. She shot 44 % from the field and 38% from the 3-point line. She won three St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conferences (SLIAC), 2nd-Team All-Conferences and been a part of the women’s team that won the SLIAC in the 2015-2016 season. She was also a part of the team that won the NCCAA Championship last year and will have that opportunity once again this year.
All in all, Goodnight has had a great basketball career and has been a part of the program’s success. She has not made it all about herself. Goodnight stated, “My personal goals took a backseat to the team goals this year.” The team being successful is more important to her than her personal stats, and that defines a great basketball player.
