2008-2009 Warrior Journal

March 13, 2009

The memory of an athlete is an unbroken stream of big plays and game-winners.  The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.  It is remarkable how clearly I can recall a three-pointer my teammate, Katya Yancheva, drained with seconds left in the first round game of the conference tournament in 2007.  However, if you ask me what I ate for dinner that day, or even what classes I was taking in school that semester, my mind goes astoundingly blank.  As athletes, our identities intertwine with the thousands of special moments that we have experienced, bound so tight that these experiences greatly shape who we are.  I have been distinctly lucky in my career at Lewis-Clark State College—in four years I have been a part of some very talented teams and played with some outstanding athletes.  I treasure the memories I have made, but none more than our incredible victory in the conference championship earlier this week!          

Going into the conference tournament, it felt like nothing was going our way.   We finished in second with MSU-Northern and since we were tied in every tiebreaker category, our fate was left up to a coin toss.  We lost the flip, and were paired with Montana Tech for the first round of games.  For the first time ever, each conference tournament game was hosted by the higher-seed team, so for us, that meant starting off with a home game.  We had achieved a lead going into halftime when we learned that UM-Western had upset Northern. This meant that our next round game would again be at home, and our luck was beginning to change!  Before the night was over, we learned that we would face Rocky Mountain College in the semi-final contest.  With our best defensive effort of the season we were able to defeat Rocky, forcing 32 turnovers and holding them to under 18% from the field.  It was a great leap in the right direction for us, and provided the confidence we needed to challenge Westminster for the title.           

As we began to prepare for the championship, I sensed that something was different this time.  Having been defeated by Westminster twice before, we knew that few really believed we would accomplish what no other team in the Frontier Conference had done in regular season.  But we believed.  We watched the film from our previous meeting with Westminster and saw how close we had been.  The few days before the championship game were filled with mental preparation, hard work, and excited conversation—we were ready!  By the time we tipped off on Monday evening, not a single one of us doubted that we would finish as anything less than champions.  It was a hard fought battle, and so many players stepped up and made big plays en route to a 79-78 victory in overtime.  Sadie muscled down ten rebounds, Kenna forced overtime by driving the length of the floor and scoring, Nikki had seven clutch points at the end that secured the victory…everyone was an integral part of the win.  However, it never fares well for those who dwell on the past, and we must prepare for the final and most important culmination of our efforts.
 

This Monday we fly to Jackson, Tennessee to compete in the national tournament.  I am excited that I get the opportunity to continue to play with this team.  We have accomplished so much this season, and I believe that the best is yet to come.  In the middle of practice yesterday, Coach Orr told us that only 10% of the teams at the national tournament truly believe that they are going to win it.  Winston Churchill tells us that, “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.”  With all that we have done so far, I think we finally have the courage to go into this last part of our journey and the confidence that we will win.