The clock struck zero and the score showed that the dream of four seniors and their basketball team wouldn’t come true as they were defeated by Northern Iowa 54-53 for the Missouri Valley title.
“I think you can take a day to be sad about it and to be disappointed in how it ended, but now we have to be focused and have new goals,” senior forward Megan Neuvirth said.
Even though they didn’t make the cut for the big dance, players are still optimistic of their chances of a good run in the Womens National Invitational Tournament.
“We definitely plan to play some hard and competitive teams and hopefully come out on top,” Neuvirth said.
Several other players expressed their thoughts in regards to their WNIT berth.
“Our goal is of course to try and win it,” senior guard Chevelle Herring said. “It sucks that we didn’t make it to the NCAA tournament, but looking at it from a different perspective I guess it’s nice that we get to play more games.”
Head coach Jim Flanery, who led the 2003 squad to the 2004 WNIT title, hopes to make a run at it this year.
“Well, it sounds cliche, but you want to get in and I think it’s a tournament that the longer you’re in the more excited you get,” he said. “For the most part the teams are pretty evenly matched and the deeper you get in the tournament the more that excitement grows.”
The team enters first round action this Friday with a home game against Stephen F. Austin at the D.J. Sokol Arena. Herring hopes the Bluejay’s home court advantage continues.
“I think we’ve gained a lot of fans, and I think that’s a tribute to the atmosphere we’ve been able to get in this new place. I think there’s going to be a definite home court advantage,” Herring said.
The team posted an 11-3 record in their first year on their new home court and hope to continue that success in the postseason.
“I think it’s a great advantage,” Flanery said. “Just not having to travel and particularly for us having come off a tournament where we played three hard games in three days on the road, it’s good to start off with a homegame so we have more time to prepare and also the home crowd doesn’t hurt either.”