Written By: Durango Herald Sports Staff, Ryan Owens
March 27, 2010. ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Shooting in women's basketball can be a fickle thing. Teams get hot, teams get cold, and the timing of each can be paramount in determining the course of a season.
Like rain on a wedding day, sometimes it ruins a big moment, not to mention months of planning and hard work.
Unfortunately for Fort Lewis College's women's basketball team, Friday was one of those days.
The Skyhawks hit just 27.6 percent from the field, and 20 percent from 3, and Emporia State University walked away with the NCAA Division II women's national championship with a 65-53 victory. A team that had lost three of its last five games entering the tournament now reigns as champion, finishing 30-5.
“It's a one-game deal," FLC coach Mark Kellogg said. “They were better."
Fort Lewis came into the tournament averaging 47.1 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from beyond the arc, and it hit 53.8 percent of its shots in the semifinal victory over Franklin Pierce. But the Skyhawks just couldn't find the bottom of the net when they needed it most Friday.
“We had bounced back from (poor shooting) before, and we just couldn't do it (Friday night)," guard Laura Haugen said. Lady Hornets coach Brandon Schneider said the game plan was to play single coverage in the post, challenging the 3-point shot and forcing the posts to shoot over players like the long and lanky Alli Volkens and Negesti Taylor.
“It was a big part of what we wanted to do defensively, was to take away the 3-ball," the ESU coach said.
Volkens tallied 16 points, 15 rebounds, had five crucial blocks and altered many more shots en route to tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. Games of 28, 20 and 16 points sealed those honors for a player who entered the tournament averaging just a shade more than 11 points per game. Coming off the bench, she was the catalyst in a 36-6 scoring advantage for the Lady Hornets' reserves.
“I just tried to be between (FLC forward Allison Rosel) as much as I could and make her shoot over me," Volkens said. Rosel, who still managed to lead all scorers with 18, said Volkens definitely had an impact on FLC's inside game.
“Coming off the bench, she definitely made a presence," she said.
But perhaps of equal importance for ESU was the stretch provided by freshman Rachel Hanf.
Hanf hit three 3s in 1:32 in the second half to break a 42-38 ESU lead wide open at 51-42 with 5:07 left. Emporia State would never trail by less than seven points from then on, making its free throws to seal the deal.
“I just went in there with confidence and shot it like I know how," the freshman guard said of her run.
While ESU was able to hit at a 63 percent clip in the second half, FLC still got what it needed out of its defense: turnovers. The Skyhawks forced 25 turnovers, but the poor shooting limited them to just 18 points off of the changes in possession.
“I think offensively, as a group, we pride ourselves on getting that run. We get that run; we get it going our way, and that just never happened (Friday night)," Katie Mackey said.
Fort Lewis gained its first lead in more tha 20 minutes of play at 36-34 on a Rosel layup with 11:04 remaining, before succumbing to Hanf's streak. The Skyhawks tied the game three times before taking their final lead, pulling even at 25, then 29 and finally at 34, but the lone run by the Lady Hornets brought a mostly pro-ESU crowd (it's a 2½-hour drive from Emporia, Kan., to St. Joseph, Mo.) to its feet, and it doomed the Skyhawks.
“I don't think there were very many runs of substance, I guess, but there was one. And they made it," Kellogg said of ESU's late gap.
Both teams were plagued by awful shooting performances in the first half. Fort Lewis shot just 22.2 percent from the field and struggled at the free throw line, usually a strength for the Skyhawks, making just 7 of 12 freebies.
Fort Lewis pulled within two, 23-21, on a Laura Haugen 3 just 7 seconds before halftime, giving the Skyhawks a little bit of momentum heading into the locker room.
It was momentum they just were never able to capitalize on.
Despite the result, FLC's head man doted on his club.
“They've just given me the greatest ride of my life," Kellogg said of his team, which finished the season a program-best 35-4. “Other than maybe when you get married or the birth of your two children, this is as sweet as it's ever been for me. Hard now, but I truly could not be more proud of a group of kids I've been associated with."
Hope will spring anew for all but five Skyhawks next season. And eventually, it's likely that the winningest group of five seniors in Fort Lewis history - Haugen, Mackey, Rosel, Audrey George and Lauren McCulloch - will look back and appreciate what an impact their careers had on a program that reached previously unfathomable heights during their tenure.
Highlights to date the 2009-2010 season: Haugen and Rosel were named to the All-NCAA Elite Eight team; Rosel set a new single-season FLC scoring mark; Haugen, George, Mackey and Rosel all eclipsed 1,000 career points; Haugen and Rosel were named the All-Elite Eight Tournament Team; Rosel was named Honorable Mention All-America; McCulloch caught fire and scored 20 points off the bench on Family Night earlier in the year; alongside a plethora of other accomplishments that will remain in the annals of FLC history for years to come.
But as the FLC players exited the floor, and eventually the arena with tears in their eyes and without the national championship trophy they so coveted, it was evident the loss created wounds that time hadn't yet had time to heal.
“It's pretty tough when your last game ever is a bad shooting night," George said, her eyes red with tears. “It's pretty rough to have that day be a bad shooting day. It's pretty frustrating."
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