Last year’s Mavericks had a mantra during the Summit League Tournament. Just get back to the team hotel, one more time. 
 
“We kept saying one more game, we want to get on the bus one more time, go back to the hotel, one more prep,” said coach Carrie Banks in March. 
 
It worked. For the second time in three years, sixth-seeded Omaha engineered a run to the final day of the event. The 2023 run wasn’t as improbable as their 2021 edition, when Banks and the Mavericks became the first No. 8 seed to play their way until the final day of the tournament. Still, it was an exciting finish to a season that featured the program’s most wins in six years.
 
It also may have provided a tip to the Sioux Falls’ hotel industry. If Banks and the Mavericks are on the reservation list in March, you may want to consider those rooms occupied until the tournament wraps up. Although Omaha did not qualify for the tournament in 2022, Banks has now led her team to championship Tuesday in each of the program's last two appearances at the postseason event.
 
Last year’s run was particularly special for the fourth-year coach because it involved just two of the players that were around in 2021. 
 
“We covered some ground doing that,” Banks said. “It was great giving them that experience, of what that atmosphere is like and what it was like competing every single day. I think that’s something we can build upon.”
 
That becomes the balancing act for Banks. How do you use last year’s success while at the same time moving on – and moving forward – with a group trying to write its own story? 
 
“We’re kind of at the point where talking about last year is not something we’re keen to do,” she said. “You do have to learn the lesson but not dwell on last year. We really need to stick with the identity of this team and how this team can be special.” 
 
It is, however, hard to turn the page and talk about the 2023-24 Mavericks without first talking  about someone who is not there: Elena Pilakouta. In Banks’ own words, it meant the world to her that the center returned for a fifth year. She had a special season, and was at the heart of so much of what the Mavericks did, averaging 13.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. 
 
And while she gave Omaha a presence in the paint, it’s her presence in the locker room that is also missed. 
 
“It’s more so replacing her leadership that has been the biggest thing,” Banks said. “She was that kid who had that understanding of what I wanted and was a voice that was respected, and that organized people whether that was in practice or in a game.” 
 
For Banks, that leadership is something that will need to be replaced by the collective, and that gets at what may be a strong point for the 2023-24 Mavericks. It’s an older group, with five seniors and some of the first high school players Banks recruited  – like Grace Cave, Kennedi Grant and Morgann Gardner – entering their junior years. 
 
That’s been felt throughout the offseason. 
 
“There’s a maturity in the group and how quickly they’re coming together,” Banks said. “If anything is taken from last year it’s that taste has really fueled them and set an expectation.” 
 
Omaha may well have its greatest strength in the backcourt, where the Mavericks are loaded with depth and experience. That includes three of the team’s top four scorers from last season in Aaliyah Stanley (11.3 ppg), Grant (10.3 ppg) and Cave (10.1 ppg), who should cause headaches for defenses throughout the Summit. 
 
Banks is expecting big things from Stanley, who had an immediate impact on the program as a fearless scorer after an injury-riddled year at Florida Gulf Coast in 2021-22. She showed the ability to explode at any given moment, going for 34 points in a December win over Kansas City, the 11th-best single-game scoring outing in Omaha history. 
 
Grant can be just as potent with the ball. She had a breakthrough sophomore campaign, punishing teams both with her playmaking and ability to get the basket. She was ninth in the league in free throw makes, essentially trailing only front court players or POY candidates like Grace Larkins, Kacie Borowicz and Hannah Cooper. For her part, Cave was an equally adept playmaker, and should continue to develop into one of the conference’s most reliable lead guards as she enters her third year as a key part of Banks’ rotation. 
 
Culturally, it all adds up to a team that Banks said is eager to keep progressing, with its eyes on authoring yet another March run.
 
“I definitely think we’re trending in the right direction,” she said. “I think we have kids here focused on learning and doing something special.”