THE TOURNAMENT SEASON
Our season came to an end in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Big Dance. After winning memorable first and second round games at Dorough Fieldhouse, we traveled to Crestview Hills, Ky. and lost to George Fox University from Oregon. We fell behind and were losing by 8 at the half but pulled even at 44, seven minutes into the second half.
But the Bruins pulled one of our tricks on us and ran off 18 straight points. We made another run but had to foul in the end to have a chance, but GF made their shots and went on to the victory.
GF won the next day against Hope and they move on to the Final Four this weekend.
This game marked the end of our SUPER SENIORS' careers at OU and what a mark they left: W/L record of 96-26, 44-12 in the SCAC, 4 straight appearances in the NCAA National Tournament, 1 Sweet Sixteen, 1 Final Four, SCAC regular season champion plus this year's conference tournament champion.
To try and put this into perspective, so far we have not found a college team ever that a single class produce five players with 500+ rebounds each and four players scoring over 1,000 points each. Do you think this group has made a statement for the Petrel Nation?
I have been trying to give this group a tricky handle (like the Michigan Fab Five) for a couple of years now, but to no avail.
How about some suggestions from the Petrel Nation?
THE NCAA TOURNAMENT COMES TO DOROUGH FIELDHOUSE
For the first time ever, OU hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA D-III Women's Basketball Tournament. The first round games were Greensboro College vs Mississippi College followed by OU vs Maryville College. Spiffed-up Dorough looked great thanks to the efforts of the OU faithful and the standing room only crowd was treated to some exciting basketball. Our game was extremely exciting coming down to a last minute 3 point shot by Anna Findley to win the game. The next night the Stormy Petrels were hitting on all cylinders, especially on the defensive side, and ran away from the Greensboro Pride 67-40. To see and feel the atmosphere in Dorough will be long remembered by all in attendance.
INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Over the past four years, our players have received many individual honors (both on and off the court) and they continue to mount. The awards have been well-documented here on the Stormin' Petrel Hoop News (peruse the archives and marvel at the accomplishments of these young ladies if you haven't already), D3 Hoops, The Atlanta Journal Constitution (thx to Mr. Hummer), community newspapers like The Dunwoody Crier, the SCAC site, the Oglethorpe Athletics webpage, and so on. But these players have always considered our success a team effort. Therefore, in this closing chapter of the season, I am not going to list the LONG list of individual honors but just say "job very well done" to a group of superior individuals that came together to form an outstanding TEAM.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE
We will always miss our Seniors but we must now look to the future. Instead of the #1 bullseye on the Stormy Petrel's back, we'll now be wearing the revenge bullseye on our back. Let me say right now, we will be ready with our group of excellent returning players, plus an exceptional group of incoming players. I doubt if we will go into next season with lofty pre-season rankings, but just wait until March rolls around and let's see what happens.
WE ARE NOT REBUILDING. WE ARE RELOADING!
THX TO ALL (AND THE LIST IS LOOOOOOONG)...
AS YOU ALL ARE IMPORTANT TO OUR GREAT SUCCESS!
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