The 2019-2020 Central Methodist University Women's basketball team earned a berth in the 2020 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics by posting 31 wins on the season and grabbing both the regular season and Heart of America Athletic Conference championships. Sitting at no. 6 in the final coaches poll, they were poised to play deep into the tournament with their eyes a national championship. All those dreams came to a screeching halt when the NAIA cancelled the tournament in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not all of the members of that team were able to make it back to Fayette Wednesday evening, but the ones who did celebrated their HAAC Championship in style. Head Coach Mike Davis introduced players, assistant coaches, and trainers and presented each with their championship ring before Vice President for Athletics and Student Life Natasha Wilson presented Heart of America Coach of the Year Davis with his.

During the presentation Coach Davis announced that Thursday morning, First team NAIA All-American and Heart Player of the Year Mercedes Jefflo, would be making a flight out of Kansas City to Los Angeles and then on to Turkey to play professionally after having signed a contract over the weekend. Jefflo was excited to show off her new jewelry. “I love it! It’s green. It’s got everything that we ever said, it’s got ‘Champions,’ and on the inside it’s got engraved ‘Once an Eagle, Always an Eagle.’ We always said that after every win. It’s got our record. I like the green about it, I just like it. This is a dope ring.”

Jefflo is looking forward to taking her talents to Turkey, knowing “it is a great opportunity.”

Jefflo expressed disappointment in not being able to continue into the tournament last spring. “They should have put us in a bubble and leet us win it all. I think that’s what would have happened.”  

Coach Davis said that he was “just happy to see this group get to have a good time and a little closure.” The cancellation of the national tournament “was just an unbelievable way for a season to end, so to me for so many to be to be back here together tonight, enjoying each other is a win. We had twelve seniors last year, they had a great spirit, with a zest for life and a passion for the things they did. You can see that tonight, and they played that way.”

When asked for any predictions he might have for this season, Coach Davis said “Hey, we’ve got a lot of work to do, we’ve got a lot of new players and we have a lot of high expectations, but we understand the work we have to do.”  That work was delayed somewhat Wednesday as the game originally scheduled with Kansas Christian College was postponed. HAAC Commissioner Lori Thomas said in a release by CMU, that  "This decision was made out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of our student-athletes. The conference and teams are adhering to the outlined guidelines in the Heart Promise.”  An attempt will be made to reschedule the game on a date to be determined.