The Concordia College Alabama Lady Hornets may have won their national championship trophy and banner back in March, but they officially received their rings on Friday.

After defeating the Selma University Lady Bulldogs 65-44 to claim the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Basketball National Championship in March, the Lady Hornets received their championship rings Friday in the Jenkins Center.

Concordia coach William Waheed said it’s a great thing to see the young ladies honored for their achievement.

“It’s exciting for me to see people appreciate a group of young ladies coming together and working together to achieve something together. And for that to be recognized, I think it’s just awesome,” Waheed said. “If the school nurtures the success, it will bring it a lot. It’s certainly brought attention, but we also have in that group an academic All-American, we had two all-tournament and we brought home the tournament most valuable player. It can’t do anything but boost the attention that the school will get.”

Rashida Young, who won tournament most valuable player for the Lady Hornets during their national championship run, said it was a great honor to finally receive her ring.

“It feels like we won it all over again. It feels great and it’s truly a blessing,” Young said. “It took a lot of dedication, playing together as a team.”

Young’s teammate, Teresa Hill, agreed that the ceremony was another sign of hard work paying off.

“Winning this national championship feels like all the hard work that we put in in the gym, all the hours that we put in, it just made us come together and win this championship,” Hill said. “It took a lot of discipline, a lot of hard work, dedication and a lot of heart.”

During the ceremony, the Concordia football team was also honored for its achievements last season, in which it finished as one of the top independent programs in the country.