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With an early 7-0 run over DePauw in the first half, the Mary Washington fans at Springfield College cheered loudly.
Mary Washington's Liz Hickey tries to save a ball swatted from her arms during yesterday's game. |
PHOTO GALLERY: See photos from the game
BY TODD JACOBSON
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Mary Washington senior forward Debbie Bruen wanted to be happy. She wanted to smile away the tears to acknowledge what has been a historic year for the Eagles--from the record 30-win season to the 26-game winning streak and an inaugural trip to the Division III women's basketball Final Four.
But the Division III women's basketball championship game will be played today, and the Eagles won't be in it.
That, Bruen said after Mary Washington's 67-61 loss to DePauw University yesterday at Springfield College's Blake Arena, stung most.
"It's kind of bittersweet," Bruen said. "You really are proud of your team, your teammates, everything you've done. You really can't be completely upset with your success. But at the same time, we're all very competitive. We want to be out there in the championship game tomorrow. That's not a good feeling at all."
How it happened couldn't have felt good, either.
The Eagles (30-3) committed 23 turnovers, squandered a 10-point first half lead, and couldn't rally late, in effect ending what had been a record year.
Mary Washington's season isn't quite over--it still will play in the consolation finals at 12:30 p.m. today against New York University (27-3)--but its dreams of a national title are.
DePauw (30-3) will play Washington University-St. Louis in the finals at 3 p.m.
Bruen and UMW center Liz Hickey led the Eagles with 14 points, while DePauw senior forward Liz Bondi scored a game-high 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting.
For much of the first half, Mary Washington looked like the team headed to the title game.
Bruen scored the game's first seven points, reserve guard Kaitie Clarkin knocked down two big three-pointers, and with 3:12 left in the first half, the Eagles took a 29-19 lead on a jumpshot by Liz Hickey.
But a season-long bugaboo took its toll.
If Mary Washington has had a weakness this season, it's been turnovers. The Eagles came into the game averaging 18.1 a game, and yesterday turnovers finally caught up to them.
They committed 15 of them in the first half, enough to allow DePauw to hang around, and the Tigers used a 16-2 run sandwiched around halftime to take a 35-33 less than four minutes into the second half.
"Certainly at some point we had to control [the turnovers] a little bit better and hang onto the ball a little bit more but they played great defense on us, they forced us into some extra turnovers and sometimes that just the way it goes," Mary Washington coach Deena Applebury said.
The Eagles grabbed the lead back three times, teasing a large group of fans that made the long trek to Springfield with the same kind of magic that sparked this Final Four run.
A defensive stand helped the Eagles hold off Scranton in a Sweet 16 win, and they overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to beat Bowdoin to reach the Final Four.
"We were waiting and believing," Applebury said, "but we just couldn't quite pull it through."
Bondi deserves much of the credit. At nearly every turn--whenever Mary Washington made a run--she answered for DePauw.
When Mary Washington took a 58-56 lead a minute later, Bondi tied the game with a pair of free throws and put DePauw up 60-58 at the 3:24 mark with a jumpshot. The Tigers never trailed again.
"There were a couple times where I thought we were going to come back and the momentum switched again and it switched back and forth and we just weren't able to come back," Hickey said.
A 3-pointer by Bruen with 17.8 seconds left pulled the Eagles within 64-61, but the Tigers made five of six free throws to seal the win.
DePauw's players rushed the court, celebrating their first championship game appearance. Tears flowed as Mary Washington's players gathered briefly at center court. Their dreams were dashed, but a statement had been made.
"I don't feel like we came up short," Applebury said. "I think getting here has far surpassed any expectations anyone has ever had of this program."
Todd Jacobson: 540/735-1974
| DePAUW 67 MARY WASHINGTON 61 |
