Senior captains Alexis Sevillian and Zion Sanders had their last game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday night when Iowa women’s basketball took on the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

While neither of them took the court during the Hawkeyes 83-75 bout of the Cornhuskers, Sevillian and Sanders were key players off the court for the young team’s unusual year.

Sanders and Sevillian were honored postgame in a modified ceremony. In a typical year, the seniors would walk out with their family in front of thousands at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. This year, in front of an attendance of 301, the seniors walked out of the tunnel alone to receive their bouquet of flowers on the court before seeing their parents in the stands socially distanced.

“Of all years to have leadership, you needed to have great leadership this year,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “One thing, we had a young team, and second, in a pandemic. If you had a veteran team, it would be easier to get through these situations, but when you have a young team, they need guidance. And those guys provided guidance. Zion and Alexis were outstanding captains this year.”

After being a starter during the 2019-20 season, Sevillian suffered an injury in the offseason that never fully healed. That injury forced her out of the starting lineup, and she clocked 152 minutes off the bench for the Hawkeyes in the 2020-21 season. Her only start came Dec. 22 in place of the then-injured McKenna Warnock.

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Sanders has only appeared in five games this season and has a team-low 15 minutes played on the court.

“They could’ve not enjoyed their role this year, as far as not being on the court as much,” Bluder said. “And neither one of them pouted about that. Both of them took what role they did have and make the most of it.”

Outside of basketball, Sevillian has found ways to contribute to the Iowa City and Big Ten community. She is a part of the Iowa Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (ISAAC), the Big Ten Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Coalition, and Iowa’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Accountability board.

For Sevillian, the off-court memories are the ones that matter.

“To me, the memories on the court are fun, really fun,” Sevillian said. “But to me it’s like the memories and the relationships that I will miss and remember the most.”

One of Sevillian’s closest friendships on the team is Sanders, her fellow senior and captain. Through four years with the Hawkeyes, the pair has gone to the NCAA Elite Eight, become Big Ten champions, and never lost to Iowa State.

“She might not get all of the moments on the court, all the minutes or all the points, but just the type of person and leader she is off the court makes Iowa women’s basketball, Iowa women’s basketball,” Sevillian said. “…Being able to have her by my side for four years now has been such an honor, and I wouldn’t pick anyone else to go through my senior year with.”

Although Sevillian and Sanders won’t again play at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the captains will lead their team to the Big Ten Tournament next week. With the six-seed, Iowa is slated to play 11th-seed Purdue in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Wednesday night.