Nancy Fahey and her players celebrate returning to the Final Four. Photo by Ryan Coleman, D3sports.com

By Gordon Mann
D3hoops.com

DECORAH, Iowa -- When freshman Zoë Unruh nailed a three-point shot from the corner to give Washington University a 57-46 lead over Puget Sound with 1:15 left, a feeling of inevitability pervaded the gym.

The Bears were going to win again, their 23rd victory in 25 games. They were going to the national semifinals again, their seventh such trip. All that was left was the formality of yet another Wash U net-cutting celebration.

But what followed was anything but formal.

The players poured onto the floor with raw exuberance. The players sang a little song about going to the final four while the hosts set up the ladder. Coach Nancy Fahey snipped the last loop of the net and threw it over her head like a bride tossing a bouquet at her wedding. Sophomore Halsey Ward caught the net and the team playfully fit it around Fahey's neck like a Hawaiian lei.

The three senior starters — Sarah Schell, Rebecca Parker and Jenny Southworth -- entered the postgame news conference wearing the ecstatic smiles of someone who has accomplishing something incredibly special for the first time. Their barely contained glee was too contagious not to open the interview with the obvious question — "so how does it feel?"

For most part they were speechless. "Unbelievable. Fantastic," said Parker, clasping her hands over her face in genuinely surprised joy. She started to speak again but emotion choked back the words.

Unbelievable? Isn't this the school that won four consecutive titles and dominated Division III women's basketball with an iron paw from 1997 through 2001? The program who once won 81 consecutive games?

But this is a very different team. This year's seniors would have been just sophomores in high school when the Bears won their last title in 2001. They have never been beyond the sectional semifinals. In a sense they have been laboring under the expectations that the Bears go the Final Four year every year without actually getting to enjoy a trip.

Perhaps it was those expectations that brought senior leader Sarah Schell to Fahey's office after the Bears' 83-81 overtime loss to Lake Forest in late November 2006. The Bears had lost three of four to start the season and dropped out of the D3hoops.com Top 25 for the first time since the poll's inception. "I went into Coach's office and asked, ‘what am I doing wrong?,'" recalled Schell.

Hindsight shows the answer was probably "not much." Two of the three losses came to eventual tournament teams No. 9 DePauw and No. 14 Lake Forest and Schell scored 27 points in the loss to the Foresters. But it's difficult to have that perspective with a program that has been so good for so long.

The players committed themselves to working out more on their own to get ready for the bruising UAA schedule. Fahey tried to focus the team on getting better instead of notching wins, a reasonable goal since the UAA had five teams that were ranked at some point this season. Despite losing the conference opener at Chicago 54-51, Washington University somehow got stronger while running the UAA gantlet.

On Jan. 26, the Bears erased a six-point first half deficit to beat then-No. 17 Brandeis convincingly 69-50. Two days later they knocked off then-No. 15 NYU 78-71. In total the team won 12 of 13 games in the nation's toughest conference for Division III women's basketball.

Still, it is not fair to characterize the team's resurgence as a return to the same mold that marked Washington University's dominance. Those teams had players, such as three-time All-American Alia Fischer and Tasha Rodgers, whose talent lifted the Bears to another level. This year the Bears do not have the conference player of the year (NYU does in Jessica McEntee) but they do have several players with individual strengths that make up a very good whole.

Point guard Schell (10.6 points, 3.6 assists per game) has the court vision and athletic skill to make precise passes leading to transition buckets, even when the team should not be on a fast break. As good as her passing is, the discernment she uses in deciding when not to make long passes down court is also impressive. "I've played with these guys for a while. So I know when to try to get (the ball) to them."

Forward Rebecca Parker averages a double-double (13.1 points, 10.3 rebounds) because of her tenacity on the glass and a long, loping hook shot she learned from her dad. "I was always the tall goofy kid so my dad said ‘just do this,' " Parker explains, swooping her arm around in a windmill motion.

Even the younger players are contributing to the Bears' run. Sophomore Jaimie McFarlin (9.8 points, 10.0 rebounds) has quickness that enables her to snatch a rebound, land and bounce back up with a fade away jumper before the defender can react. McFarlin and freshmen Zoë Unruh and Laura Lane-Steele keyed the Bears' rally against No. 25 Luther in Friday's sectional semifinal.

But there is at least one constant to the Bears' success. Once again Fahey has done a remarkable job developing her young talent, taking advantage of her veterans' strengths and keeping the team poised to win in different situations. The Bears have won tournament games with late rallies (Manchester) and early ones (Lake Forest), winning in front of hostile crowds at Luther and small ones, such as the one who watched Saturday's sectional final played against Puget Sound on a neutral court.

For Fahey, this trip to the national semifinals has a different feel than previous ones. "It feels new again because of this team. I feel so fortunate — these guys have made it new for me."

And for her team, the trip is an opportunity to hang another banner in the Washington University Field House. When asked whether previous teams' accomplishments add pressure to the current team, Jenny Southworth gave an answer as firm and intense as her defense. "No pressure -- it's inspiration."

Parker hinted that, even in the newness of this group's accomplishments, they understand the program's past success. "It's no pressure, but at the same time you don't want to let the legacy down."

A moment passed before she added with a big smile, "And we didn't."