Tears flowed freely as three players finished their final games in the maroon and silver. Senior guards Chloe Graves and Tia Diggins and junior forward Ivannie Robertson are all graduating at the end of the school year, and it was a sobering moment for them walking off the floor.

“It’s a lot of mixed emotions,” Graves said. “You’re sad about the time [left before the final buzzer] but you realize how much you put into the game and how much it’s given you so it’s ultimately it’s a proud moment.”

It hasn’t been an easy road for this year’s senior class. These three players have thrived in a low period in women’s basketball for Hamline. During their tenure with the Pipers, the team has lost three or more games to close out the season in all four years, and the Pipers have finished the last two seasons on fourteen and thirteen game losing streaks. The women’s team hasn’t broken .500 in any of the four (or three, in Robertson’s case) seasons that they have played for Hamline, and the team has won a combined eight games over the last two seasons.

“Seniors are always hard,” said Head Coach Kerri Stockwell. “Kids that stick with it for their entire career go down swinging. That’s what you want for them and that’s what they did. It’s hard but I’m grateful to them.”

That hasn’t stopped the players from putting up impressive individual stats over their careers. Robertson made 40 percent of her field goals, totaled 142 rebounds, and averaged 3.57 points per game. Diggins made 38 percent of her field goals, converted on just over 60 percent of her free throws, and averaged a little more than six points per game.

“All the girls I’ve played with made a huge impact on my four years here,” Diggins said.

Graves has been an iron woman for the Pipers. She has played in all 100 games since her first year and started an astounding 97 of them. Her name pops up again and again in the women’s basketball record books: she finishes her career eighth in points (1149), first in assists (357), ninth in field goals made (379), fifth in three-pointers made, and fourth in free-throws made (246).

“I hope I have given Hamline as much as it has given me,” Graves said.

Graves also averaged 11.63 points, 3.58 rebounds, and 1.29 steals per game. Simply put, she was a playmaker.

“They’re goofy first-years when they get here and there’s so much maturing that goes on,” Stockwell said. “It’s gratifying to see the progress they make as an individual both personally and on the court. The best part about coaching is being able to help them develop as human beings and see the great people they turn into.”

The three graduating players were honored with a ceremony before last Saturday’s season finale against Macalester and, near the end of the fourth quarter with the team down by double digits, Stockwell called a timeout so that the players would be given special recognition by the fans in attendance.

“It was sad and we all started crying,” Diggins said. “But it was nice because we got to hug everybody.”

There’s hope for the future, though. The Pipers have been rebuilding their program over the last two seasons, and this year’s team was especially first-year heavy. Just one player on this season’s roster will be a senior in the 2017-18 season, and of the fourteen players on this season’s roster, eight of them were first-years. While the Pipers have lacked the number of players they featured in the 2013-14 and 14-15 seasons, recruiting another strong class of first-years could have the Pipers climbing out of their hole in the basement of the MIAC.

“We’re a young team so we won’t have many [seniors] next year,” Stockwell said. “We’ll continue to grow. Every year there’s more responsibility, every year they grow.”

Graves, Robertson and Diggins might not have played for the Pipers during their highest point, but their leadership, class and development over the last two years should, in theory, usher in a new era of success for the Piper women’s basketball program.