so close and yet...

I've been putting off posting this entry, enjoying my time as the Queen of Denial...but I must face finally the truth. My Stanford Women's Basketball team lost the NCAA Tournament Championship game to the University of Connecticut 82 - 73. We (yes "we") only lost by 9 points. A smaller margin than any team that has lost to UConn in quite a while. We were even ahead at half-time with a score of 20 - 12. But alas, it wasn't meant to be :(

No. 2 Seed Stanford played No. 1 Seed UConn in the Championship Game

The final game was even more excruciating because Shmoopie and I were in Mexico and Mexican ESPN didn't show any of the women's games. We had to "watch" the game by standing next to our new friend Alfonso in the hotel's Internet Cafe -- which was a line of computers at the back of the Sport Bar (singular). Alfonso found a game-feed on the web somehow and the three of us sat in front of a laptop and waited for the screen to refresh every 30 seconds or so. Like I said:  excruciating. The second half was much more painful than the first. That's when UConn pulled ahead of Stanford; Jayne Appel got hurt and then UConn put the hammer down. Andrea and I were SO disappointed -- so was Alfonso -- he was invested too!

Stanford Senior Jayne Appel throws a pass

Thanks for another great season my Cardinal Ladies and farewell to Jayne Appel and the other Seniors. It was awesome watching you develop as players over the course of four seasons. It's hard to say goodbye :(

We'll be back at Maples Pavillion next season ready to cheer you on and welcome the new players.

Go Stanford!!!