{"id":10470,"date":"2026-05-05T16:49:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T20:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/?p=10470"},"modified":"2026-05-05T16:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T20:49:24","slug":"senior-spotlight-brianna-cinques-last-year-of-basketball-rewritten-her-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/2026\/05\/05\/senior-spotlight-brianna-cinques-last-year-of-basketball-rewritten-her-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Spotlight: Brianna Cinque\u2019s Last Year of Basketball, Rewritten Her Way\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBasketball has been a part of my life for such a long time so it always will be in some way.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Brianna Cinque, that belief shaped everything about her senior year. Rather than defining her final season through intensity and pressure, she chose a different path.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After competing in a highly structured varsity program, Cinque decided to spend her last year playing women\u2019s club basketball, a move that reshaped not only her experience as an athlete, but her entire approach to the sport she\u2019s played for years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The choice wasn\u2019t about walking away from basketball, it was about finding her way back to why she started playing in the first place.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still had a love for basketball and I wanted to continue to play in a low stress environment,\u201d Cinque said. \u201cAt this point I still had two more years left at Cortland so I thought joining the club team would be a great way for me to make friends, stay active and continue to play the sport I love.\u201d That mindset set the tone for a season rooted in enjoyment rather than pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adjusting to the club level came with its own surprises. After years in a structured, intense varsity environment, Cinque quickly noticed the difference.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The level of competition and the way everything was organized stood out the most to Cinque. \u201cComing from such an intense program the way things were way more laid back on the club in terms of games and practices was very surprising but also appreciated,\u201d said Cinque.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shift gave her space to breathe, play freely, and enjoy the game again. Cinque added, \u201cI was also shocked by how we play two games back-to-back for every opponent we play,\u201d a format that brought a new kind of challenge and excitement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her impact was also felt by those she played alongside. Teammate Reese Fellows reflected on what stood out about Brianna from the very beginning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember meeting her at varsity tryouts two years ago. She stood out by being full of life, energetic, and having a clear love for the game.\u201d said Fellows. \u201cYou could tell right away she was one of those players who just enjoyed basketball in its purest form, and that\u2019s exactly what she brought with her.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back, Cinque recognizes how different her senior year might have been had she stayed on varsity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I had stayed on varsity I definitely wouldn\u2019t have got to experience half the things I did this year being on club,\u201d Cinque said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flexibility of club basketball opened doors that would have otherwise remained closed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy life is so much more flexible on club,\u201d said Cinque. \u201cI\u2019m able to devote time to my studies and friends.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That flexibility even allowed her to take a major step outside her comfort zone.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI also even studied abroad in January in Thailand which would have been hard to do on varsity since we are still in season in January and it\u2019s a very important time,\u201d said Cinque <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond travel, Cinque also prioritized her future.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was able to focus a lot more on school and nursing school applications which would have been hard to do being on varsity because it takes up so much time and comes with a lot of responsibilities,\u201d said Cinque. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Brianna embraced a new environment, she didn\u2019t leave her experience behind.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her varsity background became an asset to her club team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel like I definitely brought a lot of skill and experience to club from my varsity years,\u201d Cinque said. \u201cI think playing at the varsity level allowed me to see a lot of things on the floor that boosted my basketball IQ and I was able to bring that to this team.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, she brought a refreshed mindset.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy appreciation for just having fun and treating basketball like the stress free fun thing it has allowed me to help my team slow down and just remember to have fun while playing the game,\u201d said Cinque. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That mindset defined her senior season.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really enjoyed playing basketball with all my teammates and coaching staff,\u201d Brianna said. \u201cWe had a lot of fun this year while also performing extremely well.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Success, for her, wasn\u2019t only measured in wins, but in the experience itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, Brianna believes basketball will always be a part of her life, and she sees herself possibly coaching in the future or doing occasional training.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think basketball has been a part of my life for such a long time so it always will be in some way,\u201d Cinque said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In choosing club basketball, Brianna Cinque didn\u2019t step away from the game. She stepped into a version of it that reminded her why she loved it all along. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u201cBasketball has been a part of my life for such a long time so it always will be in some way.\u201d  For Brianna Cinque, that belief shaped everything about her senior year. Rather than defining her final season through intensity and pressure, she chose a different path.    After competing in a highly structured varsity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Iosa McMahon","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/author\/iosa-mcmahon\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}