There was an awkward silence, perhaps 10 seconds, maybe a little longer, when the question was broached to the DePauw representatives at Thursday's media gathering, a day prior to the Division III women's semifinals.
The person asking had seen them win two games rather handily, read about a couple more important games in which it sounded like they had firm command, so there was a curiosity to learn more about the story of their season. So we asked
“What was the team's biggest gut-check moment?”
The three people seated at the podium, coach Kris Huffman and seniors Liz Bondi and Caitlin McGonigal, came up with an answer, albeit not necessarily the scariest example, citing a tough conference title matchup with Oglethorpe, whose coach coincidentally had driven 1,000 miles to cheer for his SCAC mates and see what championship basketball was all about.
The DePauw players and their coach didn't realize it at the time, but the ultimate gut check was about to come over the next 48 hours.
The two days of basketball at the sport's birthplace, Springfield College, were about the challenges of dealing with adversity when the best laid plans went awry.
That was true for the host school, which fought through the two-day Noreaster that dumped eight inches of snow on the city, but put on a fantastic event for the second straight year.
It was true for fourth-place NYU, which seemed to be playing at 99 rpm when its fast-paced, free-flow style seemed more appropriate for 78. The Violets lose an awful lot with the graduation of seniors Stephanie Ryba, Karen Bachman and Adrienne Rochetti, but we have a feeling that All-America selection Jessica McEntee and coach Janice Quinn will do whatever it takes to get back to this position in upcoming seasons.
It was true for third-place Mary Washington, which had championship aspirations but definitely learned the value of enjoying the journey that got them to this point. This was particularly evident for its lone four-year player, All-American Debbie Bruen, whose smile never left her face from the moment she was asked how much better she felt than last week, when illness limited her minutes in upsets of Scranton and Bowdoin, to the very end. The weekend may have concluded without a national title, but that didn't stop Bruen from dancing in celebration of her achievements on the Blake Arena court.
It was true for runner-up Washington U., which knew of awry plans from when the season started with an unheard of 1-3 mark, and as sophomore Jaimie McFarlin pointed out, the players were so unfamiliar with playing together, they had to work to learn each other's names. But what a rebound it was for this team, capped by the improbable comeback that left them one shot short in their quest for a return to the past glory of four straight championships.
Oh, and yes it was true for coach Kris Huffman's DePauw Tigers. It was apparent that this weekend was going to be a challenge unlike any they'd previously faced when Bruen scored the first seven points of the semifinals, putting DePauw in an unfamiliar position, having to rally against the nation's best defensive team.
The comeback from 10 points back was a work of heart, and if you wanted to throw in a commonly referenced song lyric, the eye of the Tiger. All-American senior forward Liz Bondi had her game face locked in even during that news conference on Thursday, and it never left her at any point during the weekend. We expect, after people go back and read last week's piece that detailed Bondi's pregame focus ritual to see scores of players next season asking their assistant coaches to toss them rubber balls from close range during warmups.
Bondi could do no wrong in her 28-point, 11-for-17 effort (including six straight points late span to overcome Mary Washington's final lead of the day) and we were being truthful when we told her that it was as good a one-player showing as we'd seen among the many Final Fours we've covered. She made herself a name we'll remember for a long time, right alongside the Washington alums on the NCAA's 25 th anniversary teams (honored in Springfield last season) -- Alia Fischer and Tasha Rodgers, as well as Eastern Connecticut All-American Allison Coleman's magical efforts with her elite-level effort and performance.
So this season of great expectations, with all that returned from the Elite Eight DePauw team of a year ago, came down to one game for a championship, and how appropriate that it ended as it began, against the Washington team it faced to begin the season. The opening-day win was the second in just 18 tries for the Tigers against the Bears, but winning a championship would require another win against their nemesis.
If Friday's win was centered on the achievements of one senior, Saturday's was a validation of the work of all five.
The scoresheet will show plenty of contributors, such as Cassie Pruzin, Kalei Lowes, twin sisters Gwen and Gretchen Haehl, and freshmen Emily Marshall and Jenna Fernandez, but when Huffman was asked what held her team together during Washington 's furious late comeback, her answer was what we expected.
“Senior leadership.”
Bondi was held to just nine points, but used the lateral quickness more appropriate for her All-American tennis career to limit the movements of Washington forwards Rebecca Parker and McFarlin,
“We never got nervous,” Bondi said afterwards.
“Humble and unselfish,” was how Huffman described Bondi, the same phrase she used every time her All-American's name came up in conversation the last two weeks.
Point guard Suzy Doughty, a philosophy major who we're guessing has a coaching future, also had nine points, going both 3-4 from the field and free throw line.
“She's the one who brings her teammates together,” Huffman said.
The shots didn't fall this day for McGonigal, a streaky shooting guard who fought the same shooting slump that plagued her teammates, but her leadership contribution, as it was all season, was vocal. She went from starter to sixth man this season, but handled the role appropriately. So did Bridget Bailey, who also started last season, but dealt with multiple injuries in 2006-07 and still gutted it out as champions do, for eight painful minutes in the title game.
“She gave us great minutes all season long,” Huffman said when each of those names was mentioned.
Then there was Kristy Mahon, a softball standout who played basketball as well, and though she didn't see the floor in either of the last two games, the grin was a mile wide when she joined her teammates to raise the championship trophy.
“You couldn't have asked for someone better, behind the scenes,” Huffman said of Mahon, who's likely headed to grad school to pursue a career in finance. In fact, just about everyone on the DePauw roster seems to have high career aspirations, based on what we read in their media guide bios. We have a feeling that they've got good futures. They've seen what can happen when you aim high and succeed.
To borrow a line from NYU's coach, who made the same point about her squad and New York City, this group from DePauw is a team that the small town of Greencastle, Ind., (which houses DePauw and an approximate population of 9,200) should celebrate and remember. It had the right amount of everything that a state appreciating basketball's finer points would appreciate. Offense: The best in the nation. Check. Defense: Man-to-man that sticks like glue. Check. Coaching: Huffman's got 300 wins and hasn't yet reached 100 losses. Check.
Oh, and let's not forget. Guts: We saw plenty of that this weekend.
Check.