The Trail

Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Emily Hearst The three seniors made their last year one to remember at UPS.

The UPS women's basketball team finished an amazing post season March 10 with a 57-48 loss to Washington University (Mo.) in Iowa. The Loggers were playing in the Elite Eight round of the championship tournament following their huge upset of Howard Payne 47-44 just two days prior.

The Lady Loggers came to Iowa playing for a national championship, but the reputation and national ranking (second in the country) of Howard Payne made them seem a formidable foe.

In order to defeat the Yellow Jackets, the Loggers employed superior rebounding skills and watertight defense that allowed for easy transition buckets. The defense, in fact, was so strong at shaking Howard Payne from its usual rhythm that the Yellow Jackets finished the game having shot a poor 23.7% from the field.

The defeat of Howard Payne turned some heads in Iowa. First Team All Northwest Conference junior Laura Hirsch, who led UPS with 10 points, felt that, "It was a great atmosphere in Iowa. Luther University (the hosting team) had an awesome crowd, who were there throughout both of the games that night, and really added to the noise and intensity in the gym."

The UPS victory also sent shockwaves to teams playing across the country in the championship tournament.

"It felt amazing beating Howard Payne. As much as teams like to be the front-runners, we enjoy playing the role of the underdog who can pull some major upsets. It wasn't so much the people of Iowa, but most of the other teams in the tournament who were caught off guard that we even made it to the Sweet 16," senior Brie Adderly said.

The Loggers, unfortunately, were unable to continue upsetting the field and fell to Washington University (Mo.) the following game. UPS headed into the half leading 32-30, but the strong rebounding and overall athleticism of Wash. U helped the game slip from Logger control.

Whether the amazing win over Howard Payne two nights earlier had taken a little bounce from the Loggers' step is debatable. It is certain, however, that the Loggers did not come back with the same tenacity on the boards as before.

"I think it was a combination of Wash U's athleticism and our own fatigue. Our lack of height has never really created rebounding problems with us. Rebounding is all about heart and hustle and there was never a shortage of that on our team," Adderly said.

Continued...

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