When Little Rock clinched the championship a couple days later, Elderkin made her team watch the celebration. It turned out to be a grueling experience.

“They were really hurt, and they were really angry,” Elderkin said. “And I just told them, ‘That’s my vision for my program.’

“And so I didn’t do it to hurt them, I did it to let them know exactly what we wanted to do someday.”

What followed was a spring and summer of competition within the team. Breaking the players up into 3-on-3 battles, the victors cut down nylon in the Holmes Center. Elderkin made it important to win every day.

App State post player Bayley Plummer, who had eight points and 22 rebounds against North Texas, said it felt a bit silly at first. But according to sophomore forward Lainey Gosnell, the routine became something that provided a goal to a team that wanted to change the program’s trajectory.

“Even before we came out in this game, she was like, ‘Just remember what it felt like to sit there and see the other team cut the net down.’

“Being in our own gym, it was just like, ‘We’ve got to win this.’ So I think she painted a picture for us.”