The ISU softball team’s season ended last week with a loss in the Big 12 Conference tournament.

Head coach Ruth Crowe still believes 2005 was a positive season for the softball program, despite her team’s final 18-32 (3-13 Big 12) record, which did not tell the entire story of the their season.

“If the focus is just on wins and losses, I think you lose out on what a great year it was for us,” Crowe said.

She said the Cyclones faced many tough teams throughout the season and noted that 17 of their losses were to top 25 teams. Furthermore, she said eight of those 17 losses were against top 10 teams.

Crowe said the Big 12 conference had more strong teams than it normally does this year. She said eight out of the 10 schools in the conference that have softball programs sent their teams to the NCAA tournament.

Only the Pac-10 conference matched that total in terms of teams sent, she said.

Crowe said beating Texas on TV was one highlight of the season and noted the win against Baylor was an important point in the season.

This year’s team was relatively young, and Crowe is looking to next year as a chance for the team to be better as these players get older.

“This year was a jump from last year, and I hope that we can make the jump to next year from this year,” she said.

Crowe said many of the starters this year were in their sophomore season and next year more leadership would be expected out of them.

Crowe is optimistic about next season and the progress her team can make.

“There are seven to 10 games every year, that if you win those games, it determines if you will be .500 or not,” Crowe said. “And if you are at 25-25, you will likely make the NCAA tournament.”