Alyssa GregoryThe Washington University women’s basketball season unexpectedly and uncharacteristically came to an end a week too early.
On Saturday evening, the Bears fell to No. 21 ranked Trinity (Texas) University (26-5), 76-57, in the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament “Elite Eight” at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Tex.
“It sucks,” Leslie Berger said. “Yes, it’s painful because we have so much fun playing, and we put so much effort into getting there, and now it’s over. But even though we didn’t accomplish one of our goals of the season, we did accomplish a lot. We made it to the Elite Eight, and were one of the top eight teams out of four hundred-that’s still pretty cool.”
Against Trinity, for the first time all season, the Bears faced a halftime deficit, 28-29, and were statistically out gained in almost every category. In the end, WU fell by 19 points-eerily close to their average margin of victory on the season (22.5 points).
“My sadness is that if I wished anything,” head coach Nancy Fahey said. “I wished they could go to the Final Four. This is one of the hardest working groups of kids I have had in 21 years of coaching.”
It just happened that Saturday was not WU’s day, and for the second straight year, the Bears’ quest for a seventh trip to the Final Four ended earlier than they would have liked.
The Bears were plagued by poor shooting throughout the game. This was most evident at the beginning of the second half, when the Tigers outscored the Bears 24-6. Trinity turned up the defense, and the Bears managed to attempt only one field goal in the first eight and half minutes of the second half.
Fahey said, “I thought Trinity played well tonight. You have to give them credit. Their kids played great defense and hit the shots when they were supposed to hit them.”
WU shot 34 percent from the field on the evening to Trinity’s 40 percent.
Normally dangerous from behind the arc, WU shot a dismal 17 percent from three-point range, compared to Trinity’s 45.5 percent.
Trinity capitalized on points off turnovers, converting 25 compared to WU’s eight. In addition, the Bears bench contributed only five points, while Trinity’s bench added 19 points in their winning effort.
“When it comes to tournament time, whatever team is on that night gets it,” senior Jen Rudis said. “They were on, and we were struggling offensively and defensively. They had a great inside game. We never really seemed to get into a decent defensive flow. They kept hitting the high-low looks, and we knew that was coming.”
The weekend trip to Texas was not a total loss. On Friday night, the Bears put on a stellar performance and walked away with an 83-65 victory over St. Norbert College (23-5) to advance to the Elite Eight match-up with Trinity.
Sophomore Hallie Hutchens scored a career-high 23 points and snagged 11 rebounds to lead the Bears. Three additional players scored in double figures-Rudis and Crowley tallied 13 points a piece and Hawley added 11 points.
With the win, WU overtook second place on the all-time NCAA Tournament wins list with 33 victories. In addition, Coach Fahey captured her 403rd victory and is now tied for No.13 all-time on the Division III wins list.
Despite the weekend’s disappointing loss to Trinity, the Bears still piled up plenty of accolades. They finished the season with a 26-2 record, including an undefeated 14-0 record at home and 12-2 on the road. With a 13-1 University Athletic Association (UAA) record this season, WU secured its sixth consecutive UAA Conference title.
Senior Laura Crowley was named the 2002-03 UAA Player of the Year, and Fahey and her assistants named the 2002-03 UAA Coaching Staff of the Year. With a 62-36 win at Carnegie Mellon University on Feb. 21, Fahey recorded her 400th career coaching victory.
Six seniors will graduate from this season’s squad, and none will walk away empty-handed. During their tenure at WU, this group of seniors compiled a 109-5 overall record including four UAA titles, four NCAA Tournament appearances, contributions to the record-setting 81-consecutive game winning streak and back-to-back National Championships in 2000 and 2001.
“The seniors are great,” sophomore Berger said. “Each one brought something special to this team. It’s sad to see them go, but looking at the positives, next year others will get a chance to step up.”