TodayNCAA Division III Women's Tournament: Seasons to remember
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Article RatingThe Tufts University Jumbos were, in many ways, the “Cinderella” team of the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament sectionals.
The 2007-08 Jumbos have been the most successful women’s basketball team to come out of the small Medford, Mass., school.
They ran out to a program-record 12-game win streak to start their 2007-08 campaign. Their 26 wins heading into their NCAA sectionals matchup with Messiah on Saturday was seven more than the previous program record.
Tufts had that underdog mentality on its side — a team with the chance to make program history, in its first-ever trip to the NCAA playoffs.
It’s tough to extinguish motivation like that in the postseason.
But on Saturday, the Jumbos ran into the one force strong enough to take the wind out of its sails.
Another team chasing history.
It’s been a long road to success for Messiah under head coach Mike Miller. After winning just 55.7 percent of their games and reaching the NCAA tournament just once from 1987-99 — the first 13 years of Miller’s tenure — the Falcons have slowly built a reputation as one of Division III’s best.
Messiah has seen the NCAA second round each of the last nine seasons. It has reached the Sweet 16 four times, the Elite Eight three.
In 2001, the Falcons finished as the national runner-up — their 28 total wins in 2003 were the most ever by a Messiah team.
But when Falcons senior guard Lauren Schurr climbed up a ladder and snipped off the first piece of the entrance-side net at Brubaker Auditorium at 8:38 p.m. last night, the 2007-08 Messiah women became the winningest squad in program history.
“This group has been special and they have worked hard and just enjoy playing basketball with each other,” said Miller.
It wasn’t easy — Tufts and the Falcons were deadlocked in a 13-10 game for seven minutes of the first half. Neither school wanted to give up its fairy tale season.
But the message was etched in stone when Messiah’s Amy Reed brought the Falcons faithful to their feet with a tremendous one-on-one blocked shot mid-way though the second half — the Jumbos have had a run to be proud of this year, but it’s just not their time yet.
It’s Messiah’s time. It’s time for these Falcons to take the next step.
The magnitude of the situation hasn’t fully sunk in with the Messiah players yet. The Final Four will be new territory for this group of Falcons, but it’s something they’ve been focused since reaching the sectionals last weekend.
“This final four will be new to all of us,” said Miller. “These players have never been there. The first time we somehow knocked off the top team and all of the sudden you realize we are here.”
“We want to make it to the Final Four so bad,” Messiah’s Nikki Lobach had said after her team’s 73-61 come-back win over Rochester University on Friday.
The door is wide open — Kean University handed Messiah its worst loss of the season Jan. 19 but, with Oglethorpe defeating the Cougars 98-86 in the NCAA sectionals yesterday, the Falcons won’t have to worry about a rematch.
But first, Messiah will need to get past another ground-breaking program in Oglethorpe University. The Petrels’ 27 wins this year are a program-best, their trip to Michigan this week will mark their first Final Four berth in school history.
There is, however, one significant difference between the Falcons and these other record-breaking programs. The coaches and staff still remaining from Messiah’s 2001 squad know what it’s like to reach the NCAA finals.
And, when you’ve tasted something that sweet before, you want to experience it again.
Tufts may be satisfied with finishing 26-4. Oglethorpe will likely relish its 27-win season, regardless of Friday’s outcome at Hope College.
But with the run this Falcons team has had this season, for these Messiah women to truly become the best team to play for coach Miller, nothing short of an NCAA finals berth will do.
