To end one particularly grueling conditioning practice for the Georgia women’s basketball team, strength and conditioning coach Josh Rucci decided to have a little fun with the players. Splitting the women up into four teams, he orchestrated a 4x100-meter relay race.

Que Morrison took her place as anchor and waited anxiously. After receiving the baton, Morrison pushed so hard that one of her shoes came off. Undeterred, and determined to cross the finish line before her teammates, Morrison finished the race with one shoe.

Morrison, a senior, was an All-American honorable mention by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and the SEC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year. In April, she chose to return to the University of Georgia after withdrawing her name from the 2021 WNBA Draft.

Morrison’s announcement was celebrated by fans, who were excited to see the team’s second leading scorer, leader in assists and leader in steals return for one more year. Her coach knows better than anyone what Morrison brings to the team.

“She’s a winner,” coach Joni Taylor explained. “She is a competitor. She does not want to lose.”

Morrison contributed immediately when she arrived at Georgia, becoming the first freshman to start a season opener since 2012. She started 32 of 33 games during the 2017-2018 season and made the SEC All-Freshman team.

Although Morrison got off to a good start at Georgia, there were challenges ahead for her.

Tearing her meniscus before sophomore year, Morrison’s mental health took a toll. The injury was the first of its kind for Morrison.

“The thought that was going through my head was that I wasn’t going to return the same,” Morrison said. “I was hurting.”

This injury caused Morrison to miss most of her sophomore year after coming off a hot freshman season. But this wasn’t the only injury in her career.

She also suffered a torn labrum during her junior season.

“I believe I was going off a screen and my arm went through, and it just popped out,” she recounted. “That was the worst thing that I have ever experienced.”

As tough as these mental and physical challenges were, they were not enough to break Morrison’s will to win. She credits the Georgia support staff and her own mental growth for her resilience.

Taylor agreed that these setbacks have helped her mature.

“When she got hurt the first time, that also helped sink in too that this is not something that you’re going to have forever,” Taylor stated.

Now pursuing a Masters degree in Sport Pedagogy, Morrison is excelling as a first-generation college student. Throughout her time at UGA, she has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times.

Coming off her best season yet, Morrison has one more chance to display her competitive fire as a Bulldog.

“I think she has what we call a dawg mentality,” Taylor explained. “Que is a Dawg. Que is somebody if you’re going into a foxhole, you want her in there with you.”