Purdue University Women's Basketball :: Official Athletic Site

Entry #5

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The past few weeks have been full of ups and downs. It began on senior night when we faced the Michigan Wolverines. The game was emotional for a few reasons. First, I have tried to forget the last time we faced Michigan, but those thoughts have been burned too deep in my mind to simply let it go. Our last matchup against Michigan was last season and we left Ann Arbor with an embarrassing 36-point defeat. So, the team and I were determined to resume Boilermaker Basketball by playing our best this time around. Second, it was senior night. More importantly, my entire family made the trip to West Lafayette to escort me onto the court at the conclusion of the game. My family was there to witness a solid game by Purdue. My three younger sisters were so cute! They had made signs that made me laugh.

After we beat Michigan 70-53, my family joined me on the court and I was issued the senior gift (my jersey in a frame). Then came the water works. While I was giving my senior speech I began to break down. It was inevitable. I had to reflect on an amazing experience full of amazing people. It is crazy to think that my college career is almost over. I was so happy to have the opportunity to speak in front of the best fans in the nation! I am so thankful for my teammates, my coaches, my family, and so many other people. Senior night was so special. But I could not bask in it for long...we had to face Michigan State in three days. That game was a true battle royal. When we played them at our house we knew we didn't play our best basketball. Even though we played better the second time around, we unfortunately let them get the best of us again. We lost on a heart-wrenching last-second shot. We had beaten Wisconsin a buzzer beater shot and now it was our turn to feel that pain.

That positive was that game got us ready to dominate in the Big Ten Tournament, which was less than a week away. We finished the regular season tied for 2nd place overall in the Big Ten Conference and were seeded 3rd in the tourney. We were pleased with our Big Ten Tourney draw because it could give us the opportunity to meet the three teams that we were unable to defeat in the regular season.

On our first night in Indianapolis we gathered in Coach Versyp's room for a team meeting. We do this every year before the tournament. This time there were big surprises! We were treated to ice cream and candy from the BOILERmaker NETwork, our women's basketball fan club. It was awesome, but not as awesome as Coach V. surprising us by doing a team building exercise that ended with her making an appearance in a superwoman outfit. The whole team was rolling with laughter. There was a Superwoman shirt for each player on the team. This was definitely a moment for pictures, but I'm pretty sure I will not need a picture to remember the craziness that I experienced that night.

The next morning we had shoot around followed by informal interviews with the TV broadcasters doing our game. Then we had pregame meal followed by film and finally we left for the gym to take on Indiana. We defeated Indiana, went to the locker room, ate some food, and waited for the 30 minute media open locker room to expire.

Joined by family and friends, we all gathered at Champs restaurant and celebrated a good victory and great momentum going into the next game against Wisconsin. Before we went to bed we had to go over the scouting report for the Badgers. We prepared well, beat Wisconsin and felt good about our performance. It was just the confidence we needed going into the championship game to face Ohio State, the conference regular season champions. They had beaten us two times already during the season, and we felt as though this was our time to beat them.

That game was probably one of the best championship games ever played in Big Ten tournament history. It went down to the final second. We ended up losing by one point, in a well fought game. Even though we lost we were very pleased and proud of the way we played. That loss will only help fuel us in the NCAA tourney, which by the way, we were chosen as a No. 6 seed.

We are scheduled to play the Charlotte 49'ers in Chattanooga, Tenn. Ever since the Big Ten tourney our team has been preparing to play whoever we come across during the NCAA tourney. We leave from West Lafayette, Ind., on Thursday for unfamiliar territory in Tennessee. We can't wait to play our first game NCAA Tournament game and continue with Boilermaker Basketball.