Reaching the Summitt (FBCB)

[Young Drachma]

So because I changed my FBCB to an entirely women's setup, I've never altered it for solo play. It's how I play now and I've almost become invested in it.

With Pat Summitt announcing her retirement today and someone mentioning the insanity of 1098 wins over a career, I was wondering what it would take to do what Tennessee has done in women's basketball.

Ironically in my ongoing dynasty I've been managing since 1941, Tennessee hasn't missed a tournament and are the most successful program in the game. But taking over that program would be too easy.

So rather than try to follow her legacy at UT, we're gonna pick a new program and create a coach who is the same age as Pat was when she took over UT and let said coach for 38 years at the same school. We'll compare their histories and while she'll never "BE" Pat, I think it'd just be a fun dynasty to compare the level of success and see if a program could manage to reach those heights accounting for the advantages financially and coaching-wise they'd need to match it.


NCAA Champs

Season Team Record Opponent Score
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2052 South Carolina Gamecocks 33-5 Portland Pilots 57-55
2051 Indiana State Sycamores 37-1 Portland Pilots 82-76
2050 Miami Hurricanes 31-5 Nebraska Huskers 88-80
2049 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 31-7 Portland Pilots 96-88
2048 Miami Hurricanes 28-9 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 79-73
2047 Tennessee Lady Vols 30-6 South Carolina Gamecocks 83-65
2046 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 32-5 Hofstra Pride 81-66
2045 Hofstra Pride 33-3 Arkansas Razorbacks 70-50
2044 Towson Tigers 31-4 Penn State Lady Lions 60-41
2043 Illinois Illini 26-14 Arkansas Razorbacks 95-93
2042 California Golden Bears 30-7 Duke Blue Devils 81-78
2041 Penn State Lady Lions 35-2 Hofstra Pride 70-62
2040 Penn State Lady Lions 34-3 Southern California Trojans 88-76
2039 Arkansas Razorbacks 35-5 Pittsburgh Panthers 95-90
2038 Nebraska Huskers 31-5 Duke Blue Devils 88-81
2037 Portland Pilots 30-10 Kent State Golden Flashes 73-57
2036 Arkansas Razorbacks 40-1 Texas Longhorns 71-68
2035 Southern California Trojans 34-3 Texas Longhorns 91-77
2034 Purdue Boilermakers 31-6 Nebraska Huskers 81-71
2033 Duke Blue Devils 33-4 West Virginia Mountaineers 83-66
2032 Penn State Lady Lions 38-0 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 106-90
2031 Penn State Lady Lions 37-1 Nebraska State Pronghorns 91-75
2030 Akron Zips 35-3 Alabama Crimson Tide 87-85
2029 Kennesaw State Lady Owls 34-3 Nebraska State Pronghorns 72-70
2028 Nebraska State Pronghorns 34-5 Illinois Illini 74-66
2027 Kennesaw State Lady Owls 40-0 Wyoming Cowgirls 94-77
2026 Kennesaw State Lady Owls 38-0 Nebraska State Pronghorns 66-51
2025 Tennessee Lady Vols 34-4 Towson Tigers 95-78
2024 Nebraska State Pronghorns 37-3 Purdue Boilermakers 88-54
2023 Nebraska State Pronghorns 38-1 North Carolina Tar Heels 71-67
2022 Nebraska State Pronghorns 37-2 St. John's Red Storm 87-76
2021 Tennessee Lady Vols 32-4 Miami Hurricanes 105-64
2020 Duke Blue Devils 32-6 Vanderbilt Commodores 79-68
2019 California Golden Bears 31-5 Purdue Boilermakers 90-64
2018 Purdue Boilermakers 37-2 Arkansas Razorbacks 89-87
2017 Nebraska State Pronghorns 37-1 Iowa State Cyclones 107-67
2016 Duke Blue Devils 33-4 Iowa State Cyclones 99-90
2015 Nebraska State Pronghorns 38-0 Iowa State Cyclones 108-84
2014 North Carolina Tar Heels 36-2 Duke Blue Devils 70-67
2013 North Carolina Tar Heels 36-2 Nebraska State Pronghorns 87-59
2012 Nebraska State Pronghorns 35-3 North Carolina Tar Heels 90-71
2011 Pittsburgh Panthers 31-5 St. John's Red Storm 75-60
2010 Louisiana State Lady Tigers 30-7 Towson Tigers 88-77
2009 California Golden Bears 33-5 Southern California Trojans 74-73
2008 Tennessee Lady Vols 35-3 UCLA Bruins 74-55
2007 Iowa State Cyclones 28-8 Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs 85-74
2006 Purdue Boilermakers 34-4 Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs 81-73
2005 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 32-7 Georgetown Hoyas 58-55
2004 Tennessee Lady Vols 36-2 Rutgers Scarlet Knights 62-57
2003 Southern Methodist Mustangs 27-10 California Golden Bears 70-64
2002 Nebraska State Pronghorns 37-1 St. John's Red Storm 86-70
2001 Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs 34-3 Maryland Terrapins 86-76
2000 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 36-4 Iowa Hawkeyes 81-59
1999 Houston Cougars 27-10 Tennessee Lady Vols 76-51
1998 Tennessee Lady Vols 36-4 Nebraska Huskers 99-96
1997 Wyoming Cowgirls 37-1 Cambridge Governors 84-48
1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-5 Tennessee Lady Vols 79-76
1995 Cambridge Governors 32-6 Morgan State Lady Bears 82-50
1994 Oklahoma State Cowgirls 36-2 UCLA Bruins 80-72
1993 Oklahoma State Cowgirls 34-4 North Carolina State Wolfpack 90-70
1992 Rocky Mount State Cardinals 37-0 Vermont Catamounts 89-62
1991 Wyoming Cowgirls 38-1 Rocky Mount State Cardinals 90-71
1990 Temple Owls 25-12 Wyoming Cowgirls 90-82
1989 Connecticut Huskies 37-0 Oklahoma State Cowgirls 123-93
1988 Oklahoma State Cowgirls 38-0 Tennessee Lady Vols 111-72
1987 Connecticut Huskies 37-0 Vermont Catamounts 100-94
1986 North Carolina Tar Heels 35-3 Iowa State Cyclones 76-67
1985 Oklahoma State Cowgirls 37-0 Tennessee Lady Vols 105-77
1984 Villanova Wildcats 33-4 Connecticut Huskies 73-67
1983 Villanova Wildcats 33-6 Tennessee Lady Vols 89-63
1982 Xavier Musketeers 22-13 California Golden Bears 67-59
1981 Georgetown Hoyas 29-7 Iowa State Cyclones 71-58
1980 Rutgers Scarlet Knights 34-6 Iowa State Cyclones 66-56
1979 Stanford Cardinal 29-7 Villanova Wildcats 66-57
1978 Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs 32-5 Florida Gators 80-70
1977 Villanova Wildcats 33-4 Columbia Lions 83-59
1976 Florida Gators 37-3 Rutgers Scarlet Knights 67-60
1975 Georgetown Hoyas 32-4 Arizona State Sun Devils 64-55
1974 Connecticut Huskies 29-7 Southern California Trojans 58-36

Season Team Record Opponent Score
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1973 Houston Cougars 31-4 Florida Gators 69-60
1972 Tennessee Lady Vols 34-3 Villanova Wildcats 78-59
1971 Oklahoma State Cowgirls 30-5 Washington Huskies 79-69
1970 Arizona State Sun Devils 32-6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 76-59
1969 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 29-7 Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs 91-85
1968 Connecticut Huskies 38-1 Florida Gators 81-61
1967 Connecticut Huskies 38-0 Arizona State Sun Devils 89-77
1966 Stanford Cardinal 35-3 Oklahoma State Cowgirls 95-85
1965 Connecticut Huskies 36-2 Tennessee Lady Vols 76-68
1964 Houston Cougars 34-4 Georgia Lady Bulldogs 75-66
1963 Stanford Cardinal 25-11 Florida Gators 79-69
1962 Texas Longhorns 30-9 Oklahoma State Cowgirls 82-63
1961 Duke Blue Devils 36-2 Western Michigan Broncos 73-66
1960 Duke Blue Devils 30-6 Southern California Trojans 72-66
1959 Virginia Cavaliers 32-4 Houston Cougars 76-73
1958 Texas A&M Aggies 31-6 Southern California Trojans 89-74
1957 Baylor Lady Bears 35-3 Arizona State Sun Devils 73-67
1956 Ohio State Buckeyes 33-4 Baylor Lady Bears 81-73
1955 Houston Cougars 29-9 Purdue Boilermakers 64-62
1954 California Golden Bears 35-3 Arizona State Sun Devils 74-61
1953 Tennessee Lady Vols 33-4 Southern California Trojans 84-43
1952 California Golden Bears 34-4 Tennessee Lady Vols 105-82
1951 Duke Blue Devils 33-6 Connecticut Huskies 64-59
1950 Tennessee Lady Vols 37-1 Arizona State Sun Devils 79-58
1949 California Golden Bears 32-6 Tennessee Lady Vols 74-68
1948 Michigan State Spartans 34-4 Southern California Trojans 78-75
1947 Stanford Cardinal 34-5 Purdue Boilermakers 89-84
1946 Virginia Cavaliers 30-8 Pepperdine Waves 58-50
1945 Tennessee Lady Vols 33-5 California Golden Bears 86-55
1944 West Virginia Mountaineers 28-8 St. John's Red Storm 76-45
1943 Tennessee Lady Vols 30-7 Virginia Cavaliers 76-60
1942 Maryland Terrapins 37-1 North Carolina Tar Heels 87-76
1941 Oklahoma Sooners 25-11 Stanford Cardinal 85-80

[Young Drachma]

http://imgross.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/hayden_panettiere_remember_the_titans_001.jpg

Sue Charles will be the name of our 22-year old coach. She grew up tagging along with her dad, a successful high school coach who won multiple state titles. After her high school career ended, she enrolled in college and played D1 basketball at Wisconsin-Green Bay. She graduated early at age 20, because she was harboring the idea of going to graduate school to become a school psychologist.

"I was really done with basketball. Loved the game, but was sure I was done with it."

But when she enrolled at Nebraska State, she was made an offer she couldn't refuse upon graduation from her masters program. Word was out that she was still working out and that many of the players -- male and female -- were using her to work them out. "I told her she could be our assistant coach. She thought about it for about fifteen minutes and realized that she'd never get an opportunity like that so soon again and with that, she was on our squad," said athletic director Pete "Skippy" Bitterman.

But before the first game of the season, head coach Mark Altshull suffered a debilitating stroke that rendered him incapacitated and unable to start the year. The responsibility fell on the staff to serve in his stead, but Bitterman thought not twice about making the 22-year old Charles his interim head coach.

"We were a new program in D1 and really didn't know who wanted to get. Anyone's who's ever met her felt like she was gonna be a coach someday. I thought it'd be good for her to get the experience that might serve her well down the road..."

With that, Sue Charles and the Pronghorns of Nebraska State University in Kearney were apt to join Division 1 after years at the D2 level.

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/kearneyhub.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/9f/b9f693fe-b896-11df-8e3c-001cc4c03286/4c8302bf378cf.image.jpg

[Young Drachma]

Nebraska State (Real life: Nebraska-Kearney) is located on I-80 in Kearney, Nebraska. It's essentially the state university of western nebraska. What's ironic and unplanned about the selection of bringing this D2 school to D1 is that in my current solo dynasty that we'll be continuing for this one (And if you read the old Cambridge FBCB girls dynasty with muns, still the same file) is that Nebraska in the Big Ten has become a successful program.

The Lady Huskers have been successful under their own young coach, 28-year old Lily Aguilar who in her 3rd year took the team to the NCAA Finals, defying all expectations and so..basketball renaissance is going on in the state in the women's game.

The idea here is for Nebraska State to capitalize on this success.

The Pronghorns are going to spend at least their first two seasons as an independent. Not sure what conference they'll end up in after that, but we'll figure it out.

[Young Drachma]

So I'm going to try to balance between being too much of a stat dump, but I don't want to wax poetic either. So I think we'll probably focus on each season as it happens, focus on recruiting and just realize that the goal is to build a winner here and that she's going to get the resources to do that. We're trying to win 1000 games, we're not trying to suck perpetually.

With that in mind, my scheduling for the first year is to go after wins and not worry about much else. We'll get an entire squad of walkons, of course. There won't be a lot of money to spend since we're an independent to start and so, we'll just go after players that can help us win and then try to build slowly from there.

I'll be creating recruits of course, with the hopes that the infused talent can possibly land in our laps but really...the goal is to build fast a la South Dakota State in real life..but on steroids.

So I'll run through the first seasons with a schedule, talk about recruiting and then recap the season's tournament. If there's specific information you want to know (e.g. anything random or stuff like who she marries, ha.) then you can ask and I'll put it out there otherwise I'm just gonna blaze through this before I get discouraged and/or bored.

[Young Drachma]

We loaded up on transfers, hoping to scratch out the best squad we could honestly. Pat had it easier even though she was doing the laundry of her first team. Luckily, Sue has a student manager for that.

I will say the empty cupboard experience is fun. You get 13 scholarships from Day 1 and then the walkons come after that. So you get to really fill out your roster if you want with whoever is available, not saying that many/all of them are quality, but it's a pretty sweet scenario to start off with.

That said, I made the miscalculation of getting way too many freshman and so we're gonna be a young team with a young coach.

Here's the roster:


NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS General

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moriah Barnhart 55 SF Fr* 5-10 207 Yes 81 OK Panhandle, TX
Fatoumata Carruthers 13 SG Fr* 5-9 174 Yes 84 OK Princeton, NJ
Ella Flores 5 C Fr 6-2 212 No 77 OK Oakley, KS
Sofia Foster 1 SG Fr* 5-7 193 Yes 68 OK Apopka, FL
Iain Gidley 21 C Fr* 6-1 245 Yes 98 OK Deltona, FL
Ally Jackson 32 PF Fr* 6-3 222 Yes 75 OK Daingerfield, TX
Charlotte Lernoult 45 C Fr 6-0 204 No 69 OK Carquefou, France
Danielle Morabito 40 PG Fr 5-6 159 No 81 OK Zionsville, IN
Antoinette Mullier 23 PG Fr 5-10 158 No 71 OK Charlie Lake, Canada
Aaliyah Pearce 44 PG Fr 5-7 162 No 88 OK Dana Point, CA
Madelynn Poisson 53 PF So* 6-0 195 Yes 76 OK Hopewell Junction, NY
Ava Ramsay 20 SF Fr* 6-1 191 Yes 43 OK San Antonio, TX
Brianna Stocks 0 PF So 6-1 241 Yes 43 OK Alma, WI
Anne Tompkins 33 SF Fr* 5-10 210 Yes 40 OK Salem, NJ
Azul Washington 25 SG Fr 5-9 181 No 53 OK Hudson, WI


Gidley is a former 3-star recruit who transferred from Florida and Ramsey transferred from Virginia Tech and is the player I expect we'll run the offense through this year as she's a horse. Our walkons won't factor much, but we'll come into next year with a few schollys to offer up, but with us being independent for the next two years at least, we'll probably be slim pickins until we can get somewhere more permanent.

When it came hiring coaches, the idea was to save enough money for recruiting, since we knew there was no way that we'd really be able to get anyone out of this world. The idea was to get experience since our coach was so young. Not sure they are folks we'll keep around for the long haul, so I won't even introduce you. ;)

Financially, the program is in decent shape though with a total budget of $368k. That's solid for a mid-major in this universe, as it's more than any of the other independents are spending, more than Nebraska-Omaha and would essentially put us near par with spending the Summit League or the WAC, which is about what I was hoping for to begin with.

Our first year schedule is, like I said, loaded with teams that would give us games and not much more than that. We were happy to get a few games against in-state teams that everyone knows. If you'd like a future game against a program you know, feel free to ask and I'll try to make it happen.

[Young Drachma]

I realize the schedule is frontloaded. Also an accident of having to schedule so many games at once. But so it goes. There are some "money games" early on purposely to simulate what real life might be like.


NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/16/99 at #16 VCU 0-0 125
11/18/99 at #9 Rutgers 0-0 66
11/20/99 at #2 Nebraska 0-0 99
11/22/99 Colorado State 0-0 223
11/26/99 Alaska Anchorage 0-0 377
11/27/99 UMBC 0-0 8
12/02/99 at #1 Wyoming 0-0 229
12/04/99 Florida International 0-0 319
12/09/99 Nebraska-Omaha 0-0 179
12/11/99 South Dakota 0-0 183
12/16/99 at Air Force 0-0 221
12/28/99 Cal Tech 0-0 361
12/31/99 North Carolina A&T 0-0 208
01/02/00 at Georgia Tech 0-0 28
01/07/00 at Stephen F. Austin 0-0 303
01/09/00 Tennessee-Martin 0-0 252
01/13/00 Keensberg State 0-0 373
01/15/00 at Northern Connecticut 0-0 379
01/16/00 at Bantam 0-0 365
01/21/00 Boston University 0-0 3
01/22/00 at IPFW 0-0 177
01/26/00 at Belmont 0-0 36
02/04/00 at Wyoming Poly 0-0 388
02/06/00 at SIU Edwardsville 0-0 248
02/10/00 at Howard 0-0 204
02/12/00 at Scottsbluff State 0-0 364
02/17/00 Idaho State 0-0 74
02/19/00 at New Mexico State 0-0 339
03/01/00 Northern Arizona 0-0 78

[Young Drachma]

Going into the 1st year, it was obvious that we knew that Coach Summitt never had a losing season. So I was trying to schedule with that in mind, hoping that Coach Charles would have a potentially similar fate. The world is a lot more competitive now than it was in the early 70s for women's basketball, but I still tried to set things up to provide her with the most success possible.

Luckily, there are a lot more teams now and so..it was a lot easier to setup a schedule that would give us something to work with and the team of transfers seemed to get the job done led by our two standouts.

I think the easiest way to do this dynasty is to just recap each four-year class. That way, I don't have to do the stat dump thing and can instead just focus on performance and highlight anyone that's worth talking about.

So with that, let's recap Coach Charles First Class (1999-2002)

1999-2000
First season in D1 for the program and Nebraska State didn't miss a beat from its D2 days, going a surprising 23-7 in the regular season. Despite key losses, the squad played some tough competition early in the year which gave them a strong (inflated?) RPI and helped the school to its first postseason appearance in the bigs. The Pronghorns earned a #4 seed in the West region of the WNIT.

WNIT 1st Round: (4) Nebraska State 97, (5) Western Michigan 67
WNIT 2nd Round: (1) Drexel 80, (4) Nebraska State 75

So the first season ends with a record of 24-8. Coach Summitt went 16-8 in her first season, giving Coach Charles a 6 game lead to start her career.

No #1 seeds made the NCAA Final Four that year. (3) Houston beat (3) Mississippi State in one semi-final and (2) Tennessee beat (2) Notre Dame in the other one. Houston beat Tennessee in the national championship. It's their 4th title in program history, but the first one they'd won since 1973.

2000-2001
Our recruiting class was ranked #95th in the nation, inking four three-star recruits including the best player in Nebraska, Ximena Lafreniere.

We will be independent again this season, but have a short list of conferences that we might be interested in. They include the Summit League, Big Sky Conference and the fictional Blue Sky Conference comprised of schools I created (some were suggested by people here) and the Western Athletic Conference.

Depending on which league we join, there's a possibility we'll be able to start in our new conference as early as next season, otherwise we'll be two years away. I have divested control of recruiting for the time being, mostly because it's time-consuming and I want to sim years not be bogged down trying to find the best players for the team, plus this first group of kids are so young that there aren't many scholarships for a bit anyway.

Down the road, I'll be adding potential recruits to deepen the Nebraska pool but I haven't done that yet.

SEASON RESULTS
So this year was a bit different than last as the games were backloaded since I scheduled a bunch of home and home series purposely. So it added a different complexion to our late schedule and might have cost us a few wins.

We ended the 2nd regular season at 26-5, but firmly outside of the Bubble Watch’s predictions for the tournament, mostly due to a strength of schedule that was 361st in the nation (though our RPI was 78) and so it looked like another trip to the NIT for Coach Charles and the Pronghorns. But despite that, we were making a name for the program and people were noticing the little engines that could from Western Nebraska. That was the goal all along and sets the table for what we hope were future successes.

In the 2000 NIT, we were the #3 seed in the South Region.
WNIT 1st Round: Nebraska State 67, Carolina State 53
WNIT 2nd Round: New Mexico State 95, Nebraska State 92

So for the 2nd straight year, we make a departure in the second round of the WNIT. We end the 2000-01 season with a final record of 27-6. Wake Forest beat Georgetown in the WNIT.

In the NCAA Final Four, (1) Notre Dame beat (1) Washington and (5) Iowa knocked off (3) Nebraska to face off in the final, which was won by Notre Dame, their 3rd title overall, the last coming in 1996.

With no scholarships to give this year, there won’t be a recruiting class. But maybe that’s a good thing while the conference situation gets figured out anyway.


Ava Ramsey is coming off a season were she was National Freshman of the Year and a 3rd team All-American. Not bad for a player that didn’t fit at Virginia Tech. This season, she’s a 2nd-team All-American and really the only reason this team is nearly as good as it is. Topping her was Iain Gidley, who at the center position was a 1st-team All-America. This surprised me, but anytime you get a recruit from Florida I suppose it’s a good thing.


2001-2002
Season three starts with the decision on a conference. Our options are 1) Summit League 2) Big Sky and 3) Western Athletic Conference. We could probably win the WAC right now with our current squad, but it’s a pretty down on its luck league and we’re not sure what that’ll do for our SOS and so forth. The Big Sky is probably a better fit and the Summit League is the best fit. The problem with the latter of the three is largely that we’d end up being in the same conference as Nebraska-Omaha and that might hurt recruiting because we’ll both essentially be playing for the same possible tourney bid each year.

In the end, the decision was made to join the WAC. We will become members of the WAC effective this season. Hooray, we’re in a conference!

The WAC’s membership in this universe is comprised of:

New Mexico State
Idaho
Texas State
Utah Valley
UT-San Antonio
Southern Utah
Alaska Anchorage
Boise State
Texas-Pan American
Sacramento State
Denver

Last year, Utah Valley won the conference tournament and was a 16 seed. New Mexico State who beat us in the WNIT were the regular season champ going 16-2 in the conference. The AD raised $17k to put our budget over to $461k. That puts us as the top budget program in the WAC which isn’t saying much but is pretty nice in the grand scheme of things. With two players on our roster who are among the best in the nation, we’re hoping for a tournament appearance. Anything less would probably be a disappointment.

We’ll finally have two scholarships to use for recruiting freshman, as two of the players I initially recruited will be seniors this year. What’s even more interesting is the motherload of players that we’ll lose in two years -- SEVEN -- we’ll really have to rebuild the team then. We’re hoping that we can have enough success in the next two years to warrant having a club to really build.

Here’s our roster for the upcoming year sans any walkons we get:


NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS General

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Madelynn Poisson 53 PF Sr* 6-0 197 Yes 76 OK Hopewell Junction, NY
Brianna Stocks 0 C Sr 6-1 242 Yes 43 OK Alma, WI
Fatoumata Carruthers 13 SF Jr* 5-9 175 Yes 84 OK Princeton, NJ
Ally Jackson 32 SF Jr* 6-3 224 Yes 75 OK Daingerfield, TX
Iain Gidley 21 C Jr* 6-1 247 Yes 98 OK Deltona, FL
Sofia Foster 1 PG Jr* 5-9 196 Yes 68 OK Apopka, FL
Moriah Barnhart 55 SF Jr* 5-10 209 Yes 81 OK Panhandle, TX
Ava Ramsay 20 SG Jr* 6-1 193 Yes 79 OK San Antonio, TX
Anne Tompkins 33 SF Jr* 5-10 212 Yes 40 OK Salem, NJ
Ximena Lafreniere 41 SG So 5-10 183 Yes 25 OK Cozad, NE
Emily Camper 43 PF So 6-0 241 Yes 57 OK Veteran, Canada
Chloe Desmuelliers 11 C So 6-6 229 Yes 27 OK Longlac, Canada
Katharina Schwager 34 PG Fr* 5-2 164 Yes 56 OK Kempten, Germany

[Young Drachma]

2001-2002 SEASON RESULTS

Into the 3rd season, the Pronghorns were not newbies into their new conference going 21-9 (14-2, WAC) and claiming the #1 seed in the WAC tournament. They steamrolled through the tournament knocking off Alaska-Anchorage and Texas State to set a date with Sacramento State for a bid to the NCAAs. Nebraska State knocked off the Hornets 100-85 and claimed their first WAC title.

We're going to the dance! Coach Charles matches Pat Summitt's record going to the tourney in her 3rd season, as the Vols finished 3rd at the AIAW in Coach Summitt's 3rd season.

The Pronghorns are the #13th seed in the Midwest region and have a date scheduled with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (26-6), the defending National Champs and have made back to back Final Fours. No small feat.

NCAA 1st Round: Notre Dame 84, Nebraska State 66

With the loss to Notre Dame, we end the year at 24-10.

In the Final Four, 10th seed Towson performed the upset winning the Midwest region and faced off against in-state Maryland, the 4th seed out of the East Region. In the other semi-final 1-seed Mississippi State beat 4th seeded Florida in an all-SEC semi. Mississippi State beat Maryland in the title game to win their 2nd overall and first since 1978.

[Young Drachma]

In Year 4, we’re taking the training wheels off and we’re going to schedule much tougher opponents. Coach Summitt was known for scheduling tough regular season games and while our conference can’t match the SEC, we’re going to go out and find tough non-conference in the interim.

We went into this season with seven scholarships. It’s going to be a real adventure replacing all of those spots on the roster, but I’m going to see what we can do to fill as many as possible, though leaving us a bit of space might be nice. Not sure we’ll get any of our targets, but we’ll try. So far, the problem is that top recruits would rather go play for Wyoming -- we’ve lost so many kids to them -- and Nebraska isn’t yet producing the kinds of recruits we can really use in our program, though I always go after the best players in NE, SD, ND, MN and even Missouri. Wyoming produces even less than we do, so they have to dominate the region and do. Titles will do that for you though. So we’ve been having to hit overseas kids because they’re less biased against us, except it’s expensive to recruit lots of those kids. It seems like the right tactic to build this program up though.

Since we’re about to lose two of our standouts, I’ll start to chronicle a Pronghorn Hall of Fame so that we can recap the best players to ever done the Blue and White.

SEASON RECAP
Seems this year, we were the Murray State of our league. It also coincided with the emergence of point guard Sophia Foster who transferred from George Washington. The former 2-star recruit from Florida has done extremely well for us in her senior year, but has always been a quiet scorer putting up double digits in all four years she’s been here and was 2nd-team All-WAC last year.

We ended the regular season at 28-1 (15-1 in the WAC) and so, now it’s conference tourney time. Our schedule was not as strong as I thought it was gonna be. We were actually 335th in SOS this year. Our RPI was 26 at the end of the WAC tournament which culminated with a 54-41 win over UT-Pan American to claim our second straight WAC title and to again make the NCAAs.








Hilariously, we’re the #2 seed in the South Region and our first game? Against Summitt’s alma-mater UT-Martin.

NCAA 1st round: Nebraska State 71, Tennessee-Martin (22-11) 53
NCAA 2nd round Nebraska State 68, 10th seed VCU (25-10) 57


In the Sweet 16, we lucked out in the sense that there were upsets. #14 MTSU knocked off defending champion Mississippi State in the 1st round and 11th seed Clemson pummeled Stanford and so, we knew we’d end up with a low-seeded team in our first Sweet 16.

NCAA Regional Semi-final Nebraska State 85, MTSU 56 (25-11)
NCAA South Region Final Nebraska State 80, SE Louisiana 69 (28-8)

With a trip to the Final Four on the line, the upsets kept coming as we focused against 9-seed SE Louisiana who beat #1 North Carolina State in the Round of 32 and then knocked off #5 seed UConn in the Sweet 16. These kids are not going joking around.

The club was starting three seniors, but wasn’t enough to stop the Pronghorns from making their first Final Four. It’s an astounding ascent for a team that was made up largely of cast-offs from other programs and it’s setting the stage for bringing Nebraska State into the big time.

For once, I’m recapping the Final Four from being in it rather than just talking about the other teams. In this year’s Final Four we have two 3-seeds in Florida (27-8) and St. John’s (30-8) and we’ll be pitted against West region champ, 6-seed Iowa (29-8) in the other semi. Iowa’s current class lost in the title game two years ago and lost in the Elite Eight last year. They are battle tested and ready. Florida is making back to back Final Four appearances, while St. John’s is in the Final Four for the first time since 1944.

We are a team with SEVEN seniors, so naturally we're extremely experienced. That's surely why this is going so well. We have four players scoring in double figures, we rebound well and while in the earlier years Ava Ramsey was our dominating player, we've got a lot of contributions now.

FINAL FOUR
Nebraska State 83, Iowa 73

Nebraska State 83, Iowa 73

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nebraska State (36-1, 15-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Iain Gidley C 33 8-18 1-1 2 5 4 0 17
C. Desmuelliers C 29 2-2 0-0 2 9 0 3 4
Ava Ramsay PF 35 5-10 10-10 5 16 2 2 20
F. Carruthers SG 27 8-14 2-2 2 2 1 3 18
Sofia Foster SF 34 8-25 3-3 4 8 6 2 19
K. Schwager PG 24 1-2 0-0 0 3 2 1 2
Chloe Dittman PG 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Ximena Lafreniere SG 3 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Ally Jackson SF 8 1-1 1-2 0 1 0 1 3
Emily Camper PF 4 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 14 (I.Gidley 2, C.Desmuelliers 2, A.Ramsay
2, F.Carruthers 1, S.Foster 3, K.Schwager 3, E.Camper
1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (I.Gidley 2, C.Desmuelliers 1,
S.Foster 1, K.Schwager 1)
Steals: 4 (C.Desmuelliers 1, A.Ramsay 1, S.Foster 1,
K.Schwager 1)
3P FGs: 0-4 (A.Ramsay 0-1, S.Foster 0-2, K.Schwager 0-1)

Iowa (29-9, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Julia Jones C 19 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 3 0
Sarah Brannan PF 34 3-6 0-0 1 6 1 1 6
Aubrey Lehman SF 29 10-19 0-0 5 8 2 2 24
Abigail Steinke SG 31 3-4 0-0 1 6 6 2 7
Maggie Shultz PG 33 8-19 2-2 1 3 10 3 21
Briley Scott PF 17 0-6 0-0 1 4 0 3 0
Isis Maldonado SG 15 1-6 2-2 1 2 0 1 4
Lara Evenson SF 8 2-5 1-2 1 3 0 1 5
Joslyn Wilder SF 8 1-2 0-0 1 2 0 1 2
Liana Hendrix SF 4 2-3 0-0 0 2 1 0 4
Paloma Ruiz C 3 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 0

Turnovers: 16 (J.Jones 3, S.Brannan 3, A.Lehman 2,
A.Steinke 1, M.Shultz 1, B.Scott 1, I.Maldonado 1,
L.Evenson 1, J.Wilder 3)
Blocked Shots: 3 (S.Brannan 2, I.Maldonado 1)
Steals: 5 (A.Lehman 1, M.Shultz 1, B.Scott 1, J.Wilder
1, L.Hendrix 1)
3P FGs: 8-27 (J.Jones 0-1, S.Brannan 0-2, A.Lehman 4-7,
A.Steinke 1-1, M.Shultz 3-9, I.Maldonado 0-5,
L.Evenson 0-2)

Player of Game: PF Ava Ramsay (BRASKA)


In the Final, we will face St. John's who were in the Final the last time they made the Final Four.

2002-03 NATIONAL TITLE GAME


Nebraska State 86, St. John's 70

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. John's (31-9, 13-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Natalie Alvarado C 25 2-3 0-0 1 1 1 4 5
Kylie Martin PF 24 1-3 0-0 1 7 3 2 2
Saniya Coss SF 35 9-17 1-1 4 7 4 1 24
Itzel Gooding SG 30 7-20 0-0 1 6 1 3 18
Chloe Duarte PG 35 4-9 0-0 2 2 1 3 8
Edith Mead SG 20 1-6 3-5 1 3 1 4 6
Sonia Hardeman SG 19 2-4 0-0 1 1 0 1 5
Juliana Marshall PF 7 1-3 0-0 1 2 0 0 2
Abigail Dennis C 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0

Turnovers: 16 (N.Alvarado 2, K.Martin 2, S.Coss 5,
I.Gooding 1, C.Duarte 3, E.Mead 1, J.Marshall 1,
A.Dennis 1)
Blocked Shots: 0
Steals: 9 (S.Coss 4, I.Gooding 1, C.Duarte 2, E.Mead 1,
A.Dennis 1)
3P FGs: 12-39 (N.Alvarado 1-1, S.Coss 5-12, I.Gooding
4-14, C.Duarte 0-4, E.Mead 1-5, S.Hardeman 1-3)

Nebraska State (37-1, 15-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Iain Gidley C 30 7-10 4-5 2 6 2 2 18
C. Desmuelliers PF 28 3-6 2-4 2 7 1 2 8
Ava Ramsay PF 34 7-9 2-2 3 8 6 2 17
F. Carruthers SG 32 6-9 3-4 0 4 1 0 15
Sofia Foster SF 34 5-9 1-2 2 7 6 0 12
K. Schwager PG 22 1-7 2-2 0 4 0 3 4
Chloe Dittman PG 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Ximena Lafreniere SG 6 2-4 0-0 1 1 0 1 4
Ally Jackson SF 10 2-2 2-2 0 0 0 1 6
Emily Camper PF 1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Tegan Ainsworth C 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 13 (I.Gidley 2, C.Desmuelliers 2, A.Ramsay
3, F.Carruthers 1, S.Foster 3, K.Schwager 2)
Blocked Shots: 4 (I.Gidley 2, F.Carruthers 1, S.Foster
1)
Steals: 7 (I.Gidley 2, C.Desmuelliers 1, A.Ramsay 1,
S.Foster 2, A.Jackson 1)
3P FGs: 2-9 (A.Ramsay 1-2, S.Foster 1-1, K.Schwager
0-4, X.Lafreniere 0-2)

Player of Game: PF Ava Ramsay (BRASKA)


Coach Summit made her first Final Four (if you count AIAW, which I do) in her 3rd season. It took Coach Charles until her 4th to do it. But in her 1st try, she won a national title. It was an unlikely ascent for the Pronghorns, but the real question is whether this is a flash in the pan fueled by aggressive recruiting and a lot of luck (and senior-laden roster) or whether they'll be able to sustain it over time.

[Young Drachma]

I'm probably going to speed things up a bit.

[korme]

This is fun

[Young Drachma]

This year was most certainly a tougher schedule than the program had ever seen before. That's how it's going to roll now, purposely so that the wins aren't as easy to come by especially playing in the WAC.

When you lose seven seniors, you're going to have to come back and have a much tougher year the next season and 2003-04 was precisely that for the Pronghorns. Coupled with a much harder schedule to boot, this was going to be the year where Coach Charles came back down to earth.

The Pronghorns were the #2 seed in the WAC tournament after going 18-13 in the regular season. It'll take running the table in the tourney to get back to the NCAAs after last year's success.

We lost to Texas State 78-77 in the WAC semis, which means we'll be headed to a craptastic tournament since we weren't the regular season champ in the WAC.

Sure enough, we're headed to the A4 tournament as a 12th seed, which isn't really indicative of anything specific, that tournament will place regular season teams in no-bid leagues ahead of us and low-seeds always do well in that tourney. Not that we will, just indicating what it means.

A4 1st Round: Nebraska State 91, (5) St. Francis-PA (20-11) 89
A4 2nd Round: Nebraska State 74, (4) Hetfield (20-11) 68
A4 Semi-Finals: Nebraska State 69, (9) Fairfield (20-13) 60
A4 Championship: (3) Davidson (24-11) 90, Fairfield 73

In the A4 title game, we lost to Davidson ending the year at 22-15.

In the NCAAs this year, the Final Four was comprised of (9) Tennessee, (7) SMU, (3) Butler and (4) California.

In the national championship, SMU beat Cal. SMU won the WNIT last year and it was their first national championship.

[Young Drachma]

After five years, Pat Summitt had a .759 win percentage. After five years, Sue Charles has a .770 win percentage. She's ahead with 1 national title, had coached 9 All-Americans and has two conference titles to Pat's 1 at this point.

Sue Charles won't match her streak of 38 straight tournament (AIAW/NCAA) appearances, since the Pronghorns missed the NCAAs their 1st two years and missed against this year.

The 2003 recruiting class was ranked #40, the highest in program history and the only WAC program in the Top 50 (or Top 100, for that matter) and it included two four-star recruits for the first time, too.

The administration is getting restless with the WAC, feeling we've clearly outgrown it and have begun shopping for a new home for the program.

The options are:

Summit League (prestige: 2)
Horizon League (prestige: 3)
Major Conference (prestige: 4)

The Major is a mid-major superconference I formed to bring a bunch of mid-major teams that were having a ton of league success together years ago. It's probably the most tempting of the three because it'd be most like an SEC-like environment for the program. We'd also never leave. The difference is, we'll get roasted in that league.

The members are currently: (prestige)

VCU (88)
Butler (69)
Vermont (59)
Wyoming (90)
Drexel (70)
Xavier (53)
Rice (60)
Rocky Mount State (50)
BYU (50)
Gonzaga (41)
Cambridge (57)

If you read the old Cambridge dynasty, you'll know they're still around here with new coaches. Wyoming is a juggernaut thorn in our side and other programs are no joke either. It's a tough league night in and night out.

So with that as the bar, I think it's probably the best destination for the Pronghorns. We'll be moving to the MAJOR Conference. Financially, we compete well with those programs as our budget is actually bigger than theirs and yet, those teams still have lots of national success.

Anyway, we'll spend one more year in the WAC before making that move.

[Young Drachma]

This is fun

Thanks!

[Young Drachma]

2004-05 SEASON RECAP

This season was easily the worst of Sue Charles career. After a 16-14 regular season and going 10-6 in the WAC (tied for 2nd with a bunch of other teams...everyone just beat up on each other this year) they had to play a play-in game in the WAC tournament.

Despite that, the team put their game faces on and managed to beat Southern Utah, Texas State, Sacramento State and Utah Valley (the latter as the 10th seed who were on a huge run of their own at 10-23) to claim the WAC tournament title and with it, their 3rd NCAA bid in 4 years.

SEASON RESULTS

NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/19/04 vs. Northwestern 13-18 180 W 71-64 1-0
11/20/04 vs. #9 Houston 27-8 9 W 65-59 2-0
11/24/04 at #5 Iowa 29-6 20 L 98-79 2-1
11/28/04 Michigan 24-11 42 L 70-53 2-2
12/03/04 Southern Mississippi 14-16 196 L 61-38 2-3
12/05/04 #8 Wyoming 29-6 12 L 77-54 2-4
12/11/04 Kentucky 20-13 55 L 76-63 2-5
12/17/04 Harvard 14-15 301 W 59-55 3-5
12/20/04 UNC Greensboro 25-10 31 W 67-58 4-5
12/26/04 #7 Nebraska 29-7 5 L 80-55 4-6
12/31/04 at #4 Connecticut 30-6 4 L 64-58 4-7
01/02/05 Iowa State 22-9 32 L 72-57 4-8
01/06/05 at Nevada 21-12 74 W 89-76 5-8
01/13/05 at Southern Utah 6-24 363 W 72-44 6-8 (1-0)
01/15/05 at New Mexico State 10-20 367 L 65-46 6-9 (1-1)
01/20/05 at Utah Valley 10-23 365 W 87-66 7-9 (2-1)
01/22/05 at Boise State 15-15 305 L 91-71 7-10 (2-2)
01/27/05 Utah Valley 10-23 365 W 72-56 8-10 (3-2)
01/29/05 at Idaho 13-17 349 W 71-62 9-10 (4-2)
02/03/05 Boise State 15-15 305 L 71-69 9-11 (4-3)
02/05/05 Southern Utah 6-24 363 W 61-40 10-11 (5-3)
02/07/05 Butler 16-16 120 W 66-64 11-11
02/10/05 Texas-Pan American 13-18 287 L 72-64 11-12 (5-4)
02/12/05 New Mexico State 10-20 367 W 72-38 12-12 (6-4)
02/17/05 Idaho 13-17 349 W 79-56 13-12 (7-4)
02/19/05 at Texas State 20-11 153 W 74-61 14-12 (8-4)
02/24/05 at Denver 11-21 344 W 81-71 15-12 (9-4)
02/26/05 at Sacramento State 18-14 132 L 75-59 15-13 (9-5)
03/03/05 Alaska Anchorage 12-20 369 L 54-42 15-14 (9-6)
03/05/05 Texas-San Antonio 16-14 206 W 74-63 16-14 (10-6)
03/08/05 vs. Southern Utah 6-24 363 W 65-52 17-14
03/10/05 vs. Texas State 20-11 153 W 75-58 18-14
03/11/05 vs. Sacramento State 18-14 132 W 63-54 19-14
03/12/05 vs. Utah Valley 10-23 365 W 69-43 20-14
03/18/05 vs. #10 Towson 28-6 17 W 81-67 21-14
03/20/05 vs. #20 San Jose State 26-10 24 W 77-69 22-14
03/25/05 vs. #11 Oklahoma State 27-8 7 L 72-58 22-15


The Pronghorns were a 14-seed in the South Region.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
1st round: #3 Towson (28-5) W, 81-67
2nd round: #6 San Jose State (26-9) W, 77-69
Sweet 16: #2 Oklahoma State (26-7) L, 72-58

So we fall in the Sweet 16. Not bad for a team that really had no regular season business being in the tournament at all. But we clicked at the right time and behind the efforts of Wyoming transfer Harper Cromer (C) and 4-star recruit Gracia Leon (SG) we were able to maximize and really it's a nice foundation for what we'll possibly be able to do next year.

With only one scholarship, we probably won't be bringing anyone in to impact things -- no freshman signed during the early period -- but we're still pleased at the end result as we head to what's going to a bloodbath of a conference next year.

If you hadn't noticed, I just update the season results for the coach in the first post. So if you just wanna see how close she's getting to 1098, you can do that up there.

In the Final Four this year, it was 1) Tennessee, 5) UNC, 2) Nebraska and 5) Rutgers. Tennessee beat Rutgers to claim their 7th title in school history.

[Young Drachma]

With a few Top 100 recruiting classes under the belt, the Pronghorns are hoping for big things, especially after last year's surprising Sweet 16 run.

This was buoyed by the school's first 5-star recruit:


RECRUIT DETAILS

#45 PG Marie Hunley
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Height: 5-10
Weight: 158
High School: Jay High School
Hometown: Jay, FL
GPA: 2.18
Test Score: 950
Rating: *****

Attributes:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type INS JPS FTS 3PS HND PAS ORB DRB PSD PRD STL BLK QKN STR JMP STA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current: 46 46 28 29 58 38 18 32 21 26 65 31 91 42 47 23
Potential: C C D C A A F C D D A C

Season Stats:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PTS OREB REB AST TOS A/T STL BLK PFS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11.9 0.5 4.3 6.6 1.1 6.00 2.5 0.6 4.1

Shooting Averages:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FGM FGA FG% FTM FTA FT% 3PM 3PA 3P%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2 10.7 .486 0.5 1.2 .435 1.0 3.3 .292

Recruiting Notes:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qualified: Yes
Committed to Nebraska State
Rankings: #21 Overall, #3 PG, Southeast Region #6 Overall, Southeast Region #1 PG
High School Awards: None
Top 5 Schools: Houston, *Nebraska State, Nebraska, Villanova, North Carolina State



It was a much better year for the Pronghorns upon joining the Major Conference. Rather than play down to the competition, the ladies blossomed in a big way.

After a 25-6 regular season, Nebraska State lost to Vermont in the conference semi-finals. Wyoming went on to beat the Catamounts to claim the conference tournament title. Despite that, the Pronghorns who went into Selection Sunday ranked 6th in the nation will surely be in the tourney this year.

We are the #4 seed in the Midwest Region.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
1st round: (13) IUPUI, W 98-59
2nd round: (5) California, W 91-74 Gracia Leon put up 43 points in this game. She is an absolute machine.
Sweet 16: (1) Nebraska, L 77-55

When I saw this matchup, I thought the AI had a huge sense of humor. This is obviously the first playoff matchup between the cross-state rivals. Nebraska is still the top dog in the dog park, but the Pronghorns and the state faithful view this as the chance to finally topple the dragon at the top of the mountain.

Not this year, though. Nebraska pummels us and we end the year at 29-8. Still another strong season for the club and with a 5-star and a 4-star recruit coming next year, one has to expect big things for a program that's continually on the rise.

In the Final Four, we had (1) Nebraska, (8) Georgetown, (1) NC State and (3) Notre Dame. The title was won by Notre Dame over Georgetown. It's Notre Dame's 4th title overall and their 3rd since 1996. Notre Dame has only missed the tournament once in school history (1946) for what it's worth and their head coach was actually Nebraska old head coach.

Emeka Iwu was named National Freshman of the Year. Gracia Leon was a 1st team All-American.

Here's the roster for next season:



#8 NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS General

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amanda Saylor 22 SF Sr* 6-0 212 Yes 92 OK Simi Valley, CA
Maddie Jones 23 SF Sr* 6-0 193 Yes 78 OK Rushford, MN
Harper Cromer 0 C Sr* 6-2 240 Yes 94 OK Salt Lake City, UT
Katerina Kriz 30 PF Jr* 6-4 227 Yes 99 OK Liberec, Czech Republic
Janina Lindle 52 PF Jr* 5-10 242 Yes 58 Unhappy Kiel, Germany
Verdad Molina 15 PF Jr* 6-5 221 Yes 40 OK Guadix, Spain
Sadie Olsen 31 PF Jr* 6-7 217 Yes 21 OK Alexander City, AL
Gracia Leon 12 SG Jr 5-11 180 Yes 44 OK Mesquite, TX
Lily Thompson 11 PG Jr 5-10 164 Yes 64 OK Bundaberg, Australia
Emeka Iwu 32 SF So* 5-10 211 Yes 69 OK Slough, UK
Diamond Saxton 14 C Fr* 6-5 225 Yes 71 OK San Francisco, CA
Alexa Carden 45 PG Fr 5-4 153 Yes 44 Redshirt Columbia Heights, MN
Marie Hunley 13 PG Fr 5-10 158 Yes 8 OK Jay, FL

[Young Drachma]

The following are members of the Sue Charles Coaching Tree as head coaches:

Frederique Rigsby, UNLV
Emily Grande, UCLA
Addison Tran, Louisville
Madison Glass, Ohio State
Isabella Slover, Scottsbluff State
Gianna Ramey, Kansas
Juliana Poling, Northern Illinois
Grace Bassett, Green Bay
Allison Nelson, San Francisco
Dayana Powell, North Dakota
Ella Walter, Wyoming State
Chloe Arsenault, Cal State-Northridge
Chaya Bergin, Hawaii
Ally Ison, Nebraska-Omaha
Skylar Denton, Yellowstone
Marie Hunley, Bethune-Cookman
Alyssa Duty, Brown
Addison Murray, Wichita State
Maddy Neely, Louisiana-Monroe
Gabrielle Jackson, Cambridge
Andee Hooper, Northern Illinois
Juliette Chaplin, Holy Cross
Aiyana Taylor, Milwaukee
Abbigail McGehee, Chicago
Julia Brinkley, UMKC
Sarah Fowler, IPFW
Halyee Murray, UTEP
Alison Fisher, Rutgers
Claire Nichols, UConn
Amy Lewis, TAMU-CC
Rachel Cole, Nebraska State
Emily Jones, CSU-San Fernando Valley

As new assistants go on to be head coaches, I'll add them to the list mostly so that I can keep count for the very end, since as coaches eventually retire the game won't keep an accurate count. If people leave these jobs or get fired, I won't edit. The idea is just to see how many of her former assistants went on to be head coaches in the future.

[Young Drachma]

So to start Coach Charles 8th season, we lost to Cosby, an independent team 71-70. I suppose flukes do happen. But after that? Well...let's just say it was a long year of the different sort.

When you have three lottery picks on your roster, it can be a game changer and for us, the game has indeed changed.

Fueled by Garcia Leon's 24.2 PPG and the tandem of Emeka Iwu (15.0 PPG, 6.4 RPG) and Lily Thompson (6.3 APG, 13.7 PPG), the Pronghorns were unstoppable through the regular season.

The Major Conference thing has worked out better than I anticipated, but because we've risen to the occasion not because the competition has wilted.

After a perfect regular season in the conference (28-1, 16-0) we had to get through the conference tournament to a likely 1-seed, a team first. They accomplished the task with aplomb and went into the tournament 31-1.

We were the #1 seed in the West Region.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
1st round: 16 Bucknell, W 86-66
Just a programming note, South region #2 seed Nebraska lost to 15-seed Grambling State 86-83
2nd round: 8 Clemson, W 80-63
Sweet 16: 4 Arkansas, L, 104-84

And with that, the dream season ends! Very disappointing as I thought this was surely the year we were going to go all the way after so much success. But for the 3rd straight year we lost in the Sweet 16.

In the Final Four:

4) Arkansas, 3) Mississippi State, 1) Purdue, 2) St. John's.

Purdue beat St. John's in the title game. It was their first title in school history.

[Young Drachma]

After eight seasons, Pat Summit had been to 1 NCAA Final Four and had a career record of 197-58 (.772)

After eight years, Sue Charles has a career record of 218-65 (.770) and has been to one NCAA Final Four.

[SkippyDies]

you should join the Big 10 and terrorize Nebraska your conference is too easy.

[Young Drachma]

There are at least two more players headed to the Pronghorn Hall of Fame after this year. The real question is whether this season will be the year Nebraska State gets past the Sweet 16?

We'll be losing six seniors this year and I'm letting the AI do all of the recruiting, so whoever we end up with will be at the behest of our computer overlord. One has to think that with three lottery picks on our roster -- easily the best team on paper in school history -- we'll have to do better this year. But we'll have to see how it all flops out.

The schedule is a bit of a mixed bag. Some challenging games, but also some games we ought to win. I won't bog down these threads with extraneous details unless someone is dying to see them.

Nebraska State ended the regular season 26-2, going 16-0 in the Major. Their two losses came against Top 25 opponents vs. Illinois and at Rutgers. We won the conference tournament title over 10th seeded Gonzaga. Will this be the year we make it back to the Final Four? Will it be considered a huge disappointment if we don't? I'd like to think so, given the talent we'll be losing after this year.

We're the #1 seed in the West region.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
1st round: 16) Ball State, W 101-69
2nd round: 8) Arkansas W, 78-54
Sweet 16: 5) Purdue W, 72-63
Elite 8: 10) Iowa State L, 91-86

With a trip to the Final Four on the line, we lost...to a 10th seeded Iowa State team that was on a hellbent path to the Final Four.

I don't even know what to say. It's just really disappointing. We end the year at 33-3.

There were two double digit seeds in this year's Final Four. Iowa State faced Illinois, a 2-seed. In the other semi, it was 1-seed Mississippi State and 11-seed South Florida. In the final, Iowa State became the highest seed to ever win the national title, knocking off Mississippi State.

What a season.

[Young Drachma]

#21 Iain Gidley (1999-2002)
#20 Ava Ramsey (1999-2002)
#12 Gracia Leon (2004-07)
#32 Emeka Iwu (2005-08)
#0 Alyssa Duty (2008-2011)
#11 Lorena Geary (2009-2012)
#13 Nadziejan Adamicz (2012-2015)
#26 Daniella Cook (2014-2017)
#0 Matilda Wandering Soul (2014-2017)
#10 Rosalina Guerrero (2015-2018)
#53 Brooklyn Winburn (2015-2018)
#31 Izabella Morgan (2019-2022)
#31 Aiyana Taylor (2023-2026)
#23 Alexis Shedd (2023-2026)
#5 Skylar Ramos (2027-2030)
#33 Dulce Chavez (2028-2031)

[Young Drachma]

you should join the Big 10 and terrorize Nebraska your conference is too easy.

If we had D1 football, I'd make the move. But no way that's happening in a state where the Huskers are kings. So yeah, we can't go there. I'd like to do it for the competitive reasons but I don't think it makes sense.

[Young Drachma]

A diminished schedule left us firmly on the bubble at the time of the Major Conference tournament. We finished the regular season 22-7 and needed a few conference tourney wins to solidify what was a near bid to the tournament.

We lost in the conference quarters to Butler. The Major Conference tourney is way earlier than any other leagues and so, the fact that we won't play for several weeks before Selection Sunday could push us out. We'll be 23-8 for the committee, our RPI is 26 and SOS is 69. It should be a good enough resume to put us over the top, but...it's anyone's guess what'll happen.

We will be moving to the Missouri Valley Conference next year. While it's technically a step down (a 4 prestige from the Major's 5 now) the budgets are actually higher in that conference than the league we're in now and our budget went down when we switched conferences which I didn't see coming and that annoyed me. Plus, I just think it'd be better for the program to be in a league with regional rivals rather than a random assortment of programs. So it gives us all of the competitive advantages of the Major Conference with more money to spend. Seems like a win-win.

So much for staying, I know. Well, as it turns out after this season I just dissolved the Major Conference and sent all of the teams back to where they came from. It frees up an auto-bid, which is good and it enables those teams to go back to doing what they were doing before -- in theory -- and that's being successful in their respective leagues rather than beating up on each other.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
We were awarded the 10th seed in the West Region. So the streak continues in spite of ourselves. Can we go on an Iowa State-like run towards to the title? Probably not, but let's see what happens.

1st round: (7) Houston, W 70-64
2nd round: (2) UCLA, L 84-64

And with that, we're out. But not especially shocking given that the team wasn't really playing especially well. So we end the year at 24-9. The team loses just one senior, albeit an influential one in Emeka Iwu, but...there's a lot to be hopeful for.

In this year's Final Four, UCLA knocked off UNC (also a 2-seed) and in the other semi-final, Tennessee, the lone top seed to make the Final Four beat Purdue. In the title game, Tennessee claimed their 8th national championship over UCLA. It's worth noting -- I just found this out -- that the head coach of that UCLA team? Former Nebraska State assistant Emily Grande who was in her first year after three years at San Diego. So the coaching tree continues to grow, branch out and succeed at a high level.

[Young Drachma]

Going into the 2009-10 season, it's already 11 seasons into the career of Coach Charles. It has been a largely successful campaign for her, as she's established Nebraska State as a player on the women's college basketball scene. But as we've learned, titles are not gimmies no matter who you are.

This year's roster lacks size and doesn't really have the depth we're accustomed to seeing. But after a few years of good yields in recruiting, this is probably the most complete team we've ever had in terms of a starting five.

Loretta Geary is a transfer from NC State, who was #3 in her class overall. This five-star recruit somehow fell into our laps and we couldn't be happier. After losing Iwu, having a third cog to complement Hunley and Duty will probably make us a lot better off.

We don't expect to have huge problems with the MVC this year, but we'll have to bulk up the schedule to compensate for the drop in weight class and it'll be during the non-conference that we can really see whether this team will be able to tourney tested or not.


NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS General

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brianna Roundy 51 C So* 6-1 239 Yes 65 OK Owensboro, KY
Lorena Geary 11 SF Fr* 5-10 218 Yes 25 OK Marietta, GA
Alyssa Duty 0 SG So 5-10 184 Yes 28 OK Kansas City, KS
Marie Hunley 13 PG Sr 5-10 174 Yes 8 OK Jay, FL
Alexa Carden 45 SG Jr* 5-4 160 Yes 44 OK Columbia Heights, MN
Sofia Fillmore 23 PG So 5-7 186 Yes 28 OK Sterlington, LA
Diamond Saxton 14 PF Sr* 6-5 229 Yes 71 OK San Francisco, CA
Aubrey Jones 2 C Jr 5-10 194 Yes 97 OK Albuquerque, NM
Francesca Calvin 21 SF So 6-2 194 Yes 64 OK Tulsa, OK
Charlotte Tedder 10 C Jr* 6-2 231 Yes 27 OK Keystone Heights, FL
Phoebe Villar 55 C So 6-1 233 Yes 27 Redshirt Hill City, KS
Iris Rolle 12 PF Fr 6-1 226 Yes 59 Redshirt North Highlands, CA

[Young Drachma]

Ok, so the 2009-10 season was a new one for us playing in the Missouri Valley. We had a few injuries earlier in the year that kept us from maximizing things, but in the end, we went 11-5 in the conference and won the conference tournament.

Our overall record heading into the tourney was 26-7 and we were ranked 8th in the nation. Despite that, we ended up getting a low seed in the NCAAs, we were a 10-seed in the West region.

The team was led by senior Marie Hunley, our first 5-star recruit who felt some pressure to really get us over this hump of playoff flameouts. She was bolstered by the dynamic sophomore Alyssa Duty, a 5-star nab we took out of Kansas which in my mind singled our ascent into the upper echelon of midwest programs.

1st round: 7) SMU, W 84-65
2nd round: 2) Florida, W 69-56
Sweet 16: 3) Rutgers, W 76-74
Elite 8: 1) USC L, 76-66

With that, another year on the doorstep of the Final Four and we couldn't get the job done. We end the year at 29-8. We have a strong class replacing Hunley and another senior, so I'm pleased with what we'll be doing next year but...it's unfortunate we didn't have the pieces we needed to really get over the hump. Still, we squeezed a lot of out not a ton with a smaller rotation and not the depth we've had in the past.

Final Four: 1) USC 3) Arizona State 2) Cal 2) Nebraska

Cal beat USC 74-73 in the national title game.

In case you were wondering, Nebraska has four Final Fours since Nebraska State joined Division 1 and five overall (they made the title game the year before we moved up)

Our recruiting class for next year? #3 in the nation, our highest ever. Our only real pro prospect from the outset is the junior Alyssa Duty. But we'll have a nice core to work with, which isn't something we've had in a while with some real horses at each position and less undersized than we've been too in recent years.

[Young Drachma]

Those dominant Pronghorns you know and love are back with aplomb kids.


#1 NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/07/10 vs. Mississippi 17-13 57 W 87-75 1-0
11/08/10 vs. Davidson 18-14 114 W 94-57 2-0
11/17/10 at Southern Wyoming 17-13 160 W 77-64 3-0
11/25/10 North Carolina 23-11 33 W 73-71 4-0
11/27/10 at Purdue 20-11 52 W 89-54 5-0
11/30/10 Drexel 19-11 60 W 85-74 6-0
12/02/10 at Hawaii 13-19 189 W 81-64 7-0
12/07/10 Nebraska-Omaha 5-26 359 W 87-50 8-0
12/10/10 Chicago 23-9 82 W 95-48 9-0
12/12/10 at Xavier 11-19 360 W 105-60 10-0
12/17/10 UCLA 21-10 17 W 98-47 11-0
12/23/10 Evansville 9-22 262 W 65-50 12-0 (1-0)
12/25/10 Penn State 21-12 6 W 77-61 13-0
12/30/10 at Wichita State 14-16 244 W 82-64 14-0 (2-0)
01/01/11 at Drake 21-9 48 W 89-76 15-0 (3-0)
01/08/11 Wichita State 14-16 244 W 72-53 16-0 (4-0)
01/13/11 at Creighton 11-20 210 L 72-65 16-1 (4-1)
01/15/11 Indiana State 12-19 125 W 86-63 17-1 (5-1)
01/22/11 at Missouri State 18-14 90 W 83-62 18-1 (6-1)
01/26/11 Hofstra 15-15 104 W 77-44 19-1
01/29/11 Southern Illinois 15-16 169 W 89-48 20-1 (7-1)
02/03/11 #23 Northern Iowa 26-7 24 W 97-50 21-1 (8-1)
02/05/11 Missouri State 18-14 90 W 76-68 22-1 (9-1)
02/10/11 at Bradley 14-16 191 W 79-57 23-1 (10-1)
02/12/11 at Evansville 9-22 262 W 74-51 24-1 (11-1)
02/17/11 at Indiana State 12-19 125 W 66-58 25-1 (12-1)
02/19/11 at Illinois State 14-16 211 W 74-49 26-1 (13-1)
02/24/11 Drake 21-9 48 W 94-77 27-1 (14-1)
02/26/11 Creighton 11-20 210 W 81-36 28-1 (15-1)
02/28/11 Brigham Young 9-20 192 W 68-43 29-1
03/04/11 vs. Indiana State 12-19 125 W 91-72 30-1
03/05/11 vs. Missouri State 18-14 90 W 88-54 31-1
03/06/11 vs. #23 Northern Iowa 26-7 24 W 76-55 32-1




#1 NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS 30 Min Averages

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alyssa Duty SG 33 33 30.0 21.5 1.2 6.0 2.8 1.2 0.4 2.1 2.9 23.0
Aubrey Jones PF 33 33 30.0 6.9 1.5 5.0 1.5 0.9 0.4 1.4 2.6 22.7
Alexa Carden PG 33 33 30.0 11.5 1.7 3.7 3.8 0.7 0.1 1.6 2.7 20.9
Lorena Geary SF 33 33 30.0 17.2 3.1 7.1 2.5 1.4 0.2 1.1 2.3 20.8
Brianna Roundy C 33 33 30.0 9.1 3.0 9.3 1.2 0.5 3.2 1.1 1.6 20.8
Sofia Fillmore SG 33 0 30.0 12.1 1.5 4.8 6.3 2.1 0.2 2.7 2.7 15.7
Charlotte Tedder C 33 0 30.0 6.9 1.9 9.4 1.0 0.2 0.2 1.4 3.3 10.7
Francesca Calvin SF 33 0 30.0 8.9 1.5 5.0 1.5 0.3 0.6 2.4 2.9 10.4
Alexis Lumpkin PG 1 0 30.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.5
Miranda Gordon PG 33 0 30.0 9.8 1.4 3.0 2.2 1.1 0.0 1.7 2.7 4.8
Kimberly Weiler PF 33 0 30.0 8.1 1.0 2.2 0.7 0.5 0.0 1.3 3.9 1.5
Sydnee Castel C 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Lea Thierauf SF 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Gabriella Richie PF 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Mariam Obrien SG 5 0 30.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -30.0



We're the #1 seed in the Midwest Region. Will this be the year, in Coach Charles 12th year that we'll reach the promised land? For context, the girls on our roster are insane. Geary was rated #3 in her class, Jones #28, Duty was rated #11th, Fillmore #40, Roundy #53 and Carden was #70. The only one we'll be losing of that five is Carden, but we have THREE top 100 recruits redshirting right now (that's our class from last year that was rated 3rd and I might be ending up with a few more recruits to add to that list, to fill out our bench.)

The point is? We're at the point where we're starting to expect to win, not just be happy to be there. Too much money and energy is being invested in the program now for us to do anything other than 1) Beat the Huskers 2) Win championships.

[Young Drachma]

NCAA TOURNAMENT 2010-11
1st round: 16) Loyola-IL, W 111-49
2nd round: 9) Purdue, W, 75-74
Sweet 16: 12) UT-San Antonio, W 80-71
Elite 8: 3) Georgetown, L 75-66

A programming note. For the first time that I've ever noticed, a 16 seed beat a 1 seed. Austin Peay beat UConn 75-74 in the East Region.

We end the year at 35-2. I suppose the bright side is, we're bringing almost the entire team back and our eight-man rotation will be waaaaaay deeper than it's ever been in the 12th years that Coach Charles has run the program.

2010 FINAL FOUR: 3) LSU 3) Florida 3) Georgetown 7) Towson

LSU beat Towson 88-77 in the national title game. It's their first championship.

[Young Drachma]

After 12 seasons, Coach Charles is 339-87 with a win pct of .796. She's now 34 years old. I haven't decided if we'll change her name if she gets married off yet, but feel free to make some suggestions, since Coach Summit was originally Coach Head, after all. ;) Season 13 is when Pat won her 1st title. Sue has already one under her belt, but we're getting to the point in her career where Pat did extremely well. From Season 13 through 25, she made eight Final Fours and won six titles.

So we'll really get to see how much Coach Charles compares as we get through the next decade or so.

What do you all think so far?

[Young Drachma]

So we've caught up to the real world now. We'll have seven scholarships going into this year, since last year's recruiting didn't really go as well as I'd hoped. We'll lose the dynamic Alyssa Duty this year, as well as three other key role players. The other three scholies are freed up from us cutting some walkons I'd been carrying.

The one thing that I think has separated this program from others is our lack of depth. We could never really run a full eight-man rotation because our role players are near walkon quality the past few years or transfers with serious flaws. So even with 3 or 4 blue chippers we weren't able to hang with programs that boasted super deep ballteams.

The hope is after this year, we can get closer to that position perhaps with a few transfers to fill out a roster of 3-4 blue chip recruits.

With this as the 13th year, we naturally want to claim a title. Missing the Final Four again is going to be a huge disappointment. Two of our assistant coaches left for Head Coaching jobs and were replaced and the hope is the new coaching staff will help move things along a bit.

[Young Drachma]

After a strong regular season that ended 29-1 with a 16-0 regular season, the Pronghorns lost to Drake in the MVC semi-finals which cost the team a #1 seed for sure. But after the way the past few years have gone down, maybe that's for the best.

1st round: 13) UAB, W 100-59
2nd round: 5) Stanford, L 88-83

Season ends with a record of 31-3. Winning is harder than it looks, folks.

I think there's a 95% chance we're going to change conferences too. We just need to be challenged, because racking up victories in crap conferences isn't good for the challenge of trying to be Pat. I think the Big 12 is going to come calling after this year.

Final Four: 9) Providence, 4) St. John's 4) Pittsburgh 1) Towson

Pitt beat St. John's in the title game. It was their first title.

[Young Drachma]

Here's the Pronghorns 2012-13 Roster for your persual. We're drawing from all over the place.


#1 NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS General

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lorena Geary 11 SF Sr* 5-10 222 Yes 25 OK Marietta, GA
Mariam O'Brien 24 PG Jr* 5-6 195 Yes 74 OK Cheshire, CT
Sydnee Castel 25 C So* 6-4 222 Yes 75 OK Fabregues, France
Lea Thierauf 15 SF So* 6-0 195 Yes 58 OK Gotha, Germany
Gabriella Richie 30 PF So* 6-2 222 Yes 69 OK Ogden, UT
Mia Miele 40 SG So 5-8 183 Yes 46 OK El Paso, TX
Khloe Jackson 4 PG So 5-7 169 No 32 OK Lincoln, NE
Macy Reynolds 23 C Fr* 6-1 245 Yes 22 OK Carterville, IL
Yuming Jiang 5 PF Fr 6-11 221 Yes 71 OK Chengdu, China
Gabrielle Jackson 55 PF Fr 6-6 248 Yes 44 OK Omaha, NE
Nadziejan Adamicz 13 PF Fr 6-5 239 Yes 75 OK Katowice, Poland
Andee Hooper 20 PG Fr 5-10 182 Yes 67 OK Alliance, NE
Addison Murray 31 SG Fr 5-8 179 Yes 18 OK Imperial, PA
Iris Harris 41 C Fr 6-1 227 Yes 15 OK Walker, MN

[Young Drachma]

The first year in the Big 12 was a success. Not only did it help us, but Wyoming ended up winning the Missouri Valley and will make their first tournament appearance since 2005.

We won the Big 12 tournament and headed into the tournament at 29-3. We were the #1 seed in the Midwest region. In contrast to past teams, this team was very well balanced offensively and otherwise. And I'd struggle to attach the "star" pin onto any of the women specifically. They're a pretty cohesive unit and our rotation is pretty deep all the way down the bench for the most part. It's weird having a 4-star kid you can insert playing 8th, 9th or 10th in the rotation. It's quite the luxury.


NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS Averages

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lorena Geary SF 32 32 32.9 17.7 3.0 7.6 2.6 1.8 0.4 1.8 2.4 14.6
Nadziejan Adamicz PF 32 32 31.9 17.7 3.2 10.0 3.9 0.7 1.3 1.9 2.6 14.1
Mia Miele SG 32 32 26.9 15.1 0.7 3.2 1.9 1.8 0.2 2.8 2.5 11.7
Mariam O'Brien PG 32 32 29.8 11.2 0.7 2.9 8.4 0.9 0.3 1.8 2.8 14.1
Sydnee Castel C 32 0 14.6 7.2 1.1 3.4 0.9 0.6 0.2 1.4 1.3 4.3
Yuming Jiang C 32 32 25.2 5.5 2.0 6.7 1.3 0.7 0.2 1.2 2.1 11.9
Lea Thierauf SF 32 0 11.2 5.2 0.8 1.9 0.7 0.8 0.3 0.6 1.3 1.1
Andee Hooper PG 32 0 10.7 2.7 0.4 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.1 0.9 0.9 0.8
Gabriella Richie PF 32 0 9.4 2.6 1.2 3.2 0.5 0.0 0.8 0.8 0.6 3.3
Macy Reynolds C 31 0 4.7 0.6 0.4 1.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.6 -1.4
Khloe Jackson PG 29 0 2.7 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.8
Gabrielle Jackson PF 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Addison Murray SG 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Iris Harris C 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0


We are the #1 seed in the Midwest region in this year's tournament.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
1st round: 16) North Dakota, W (97-66)
2nd round: 8) Nebraska, W (91-81)
THE COMPUTER HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR
Sweet 16: 4) Oklahoma State, W (100-65)
We split the season series with these guys, with each team winning at each team's respective home. Now at a neutral site? I'm not sure what to expect to be honest. But as it turns out, it wasn't anything to worry about. Our girls were ready for the task.
Elite 8: 6) Portland, (94-78)

And with that win, Nebraska State will head to our first Final Four in 10 years!

FINAL FOUR: 2) Tennessee, (95-87)

Nebraska State 95, Tennessee 87

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennessee (29-6, 13-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Serena Holman C 27 4-6 0-0 0 8 0 3 8
J. Destombes PF 24 2-2 0-0 1 6 0 2 4
Carmen Siegel SF 28 5-12 4-4 1 3 5 3 14
Denisse Lorfeuve SG 33 11-14 2-2 3 4 0 2 28
Kynlee Lamar PG 32 4-15 5-5 2 3 10 3 14
Reagan Bane PG 11 2-4 0-0 0 2 3 3 6
Claire Swartz SG 13 3-7 0-1 0 0 4 1 9
Aryanna Collins SF 3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 0
Gabriela Deason PF 19 1-2 0-0 1 3 1 1 2
Emily Schneider PF 7 0-1 0-0 1 2 0 1 0
Maria Heiß PF 2 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 0 2
Charlie Rivera C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 15 (S.Holman 4, J.Destombes 1, C.Siegel 1,
D.Lorfeuve 3, K.Lamar 2, R.Bane 4)
Blocked Shots: 4 (S.Holman 2, J.Destombes 1, G.Deason 1)
Steals: 7 (S.Holman 1, J.Destombes 1, C.Siegel 1,
K.Lamar 1, C.Swartz 1, E.Schneider 2)
3P FGs: 10-29 (S.Holman 0-1, C.Siegel 0-3, D.Lorfeuve
4-6, K.Lamar 1-8, R.Bane 2-3, C.Swartz 3-7, A.Collins
0-1)

Nebraska State (34-3, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Yuming Jiang C 31 0-1 0-0 0 3 2 2 0
Nadziejan Adamicz PF 35 12-18 2-3 1 10 6 2 26
Lorena Geary SF 35 9-16 4-5 6 13 1 2 26
Mia Miele SG 35 5-13 0-1 3 5 4 4 11
Mariam O'Brien PG 33 6-12 2-2 2 3 11 1 19
Sydnee Castel C 11 2-5 2-2 1 1 0 1 6
Lea Thierauf SF 6 1-1 2-3 1 2 0 0 5
Gabriella Richie SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Andee Hooper SG 5 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 2
Macy Reynolds PF 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Khloe Jackson PG 4 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 1 0

Turnovers: 14 (N.Adamicz 3, L.Geary 4, M.Miele 2,
M.O'Brien 3, L.Thierauf 1, A.Hooper 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (L.Geary 1, M.Miele 1, M.O'Brien 2,
S.Castel 1)
Steals: 6 (M.Miele 3, M.O'Brien 2, S.Castel 1)
3P FGs: 11-26 (Y.Jiang 0-1, L.Geary 4-5, M.Miele 1-7,
M.O'Brien 5-11, S.Castel 0-1, L.Thierauf 1-1)

Player of Game: PG Mariam O'Brien (BRASKA)


Other semi-final: 2) Iowa v. 1) North Carolina, (North Carolina W, 104-95)

So we're back in the title game for the first time in a decade. UNC last won a title in 1986, so we're both fighting droughts, though they've made every tournament since then. Their roster boasts two sophomore stars in Emmy Rosenberg and Ekwueme Saro-Wiwe, the latter would be the 1st pick in the draft we let players leave early in this league (we don't, since the WNBA doesn't...)

The programs have played once in history and we won that lone meeting. I feel confident that we can win this, we have a lot of weapons to throw at them, but it's hard to say.



Nebraska State 90, North Carolina 71

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nebraska State (35-3, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Yuming Jiang C 32 2-5 1-3 0 10 1 2 5
Nadziejan Adamicz PF 24 5-9 2-2 1 7 2 4 12
Lorena Geary SF 34 9-14 0-0 4 7 2 0 21
Mia Miele SG 24 3-7 2-2 0 1 4 4 10
Mariam O'Brien PG 34 4-8 0-0 1 1 11 1 11
Sydnee Castel C 14 7-9 1-2 1 3 0 3 15
Lea Thierauf SF 14 4-8 2-4 2 2 0 2 12
Gabriella Richie SF 6 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 0 0
Andee Hooper SG 7 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Macy Reynolds C 10 1-3 2-2 1 4 0 3 4
Khloe Jackson PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0

Turnovers: 17 (N.Adamicz 3, L.Geary 1, M.Miele 3,
M.O'Brien 2, S.Castel 1, L.Thierauf 3, G.Richie 3,
M.Reynolds 1)
Blocked Shots: 7 (Y.Jiang 2, N.Adamicz 1, L.Geary 1,
S.Castel 1, G.Richie 1, M.Reynolds 1)
Steals: 10 (Y.Jiang 3, N.Adamicz 1, L.Geary 1, M.Miele
3, S.Castel 1, L.Thierauf 1)
3P FGs: 10-23 (Y.Jiang 0-1, L.Geary 3-7, M.Miele 2-4,
M.O'Brien 3-7, L.Thierauf 2-4)

North Carolina (34-5, 12-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Abigail Presley C 34 2-5 1-2 1 8 2 2 5
T. Yashkevich PF 27 0-1 0-0 3 6 1 4 0
Ekwueme Saro-Wiwa SF 34 10-20 0-0 4 9 5 3 20
Emmy Rosenberg SG 32 8-16 3-5 4 6 1 0 21
Jaylin Gilley PG 24 1-6 2-2 0 0 2 4 4
Adeline Dowdell SF 17 2-8 0-0 1 1 1 0 5
Emily Wolfinger PG 15 2-4 4-7 0 1 1 0 9
Amelia Selman C 10 1-1 2-2 0 1 0 0 4
Casey Ruiz SF 3 1-1 0-0 0 3 0 3 3
Mackenzie Shealy SG 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Kamila Sedlacek PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 16 (A.Presley 1, T.Yashkevich 2, E.Saro-Wiwa
4, E.Rosenberg 3, J.Gilley 2, A.Dowdell 3, E.Wolfinger
1)
Blocked Shots: 7 (T.Yashkevich 1, E.Saro-Wiwa 4,
E.Rosenberg 1, A.Selman 1)
Steals: 7 (T.Yashkevich 1, E.Saro-Wiwa 3, E.Rosenberg
2, C.Ruiz 1)
3P FGs: 5-18 (A.Presley 0-1, T.Yashkevich 0-1,
E.Rosenberg 2-6, J.Gilley 0-1, A.Dowdell 1-4,
E.Wolfinger 1-3, C.Ruiz 1-1, M.Shealy 0-1)

Player of Game: SF Lorena Geary (BRASKA)

[Young Drachma]

If Pat's advantage was that she coached during the nascent stages of the NCAA and prior, then Sue's advantage is that she's coached in an era where 30-win seasons are theoretically easier to come by as an elite team.

With the squad only losing one senior (Lorena Geary) one has to fear the 'Horns next year and perhaps the year after, as again there will only be one player lost next year too.

Scary proposition, especially when you consider the 3 redshirts who'll see action this coming year. It makes you start to understand how to build a program that constantly reloads a la a UConn or Tennessee in real life. I'd see them operate in the game, but never really understood how it happens myself since I'd never built an elite program from the ground up before.

But now that I'm watching it happen, it's sort of fun (also, completely insane) how these things come together and even as they recruit Top 10 class after Top 10 class, you see how hard it is to claim titles year after year.

So with that, let's get to Season 15.

[Young Drachma]

Imagine if Kentucky had brought back their entire Starting 5...for four years straight. Essentially, we're doing some variation of this and it didn't occur to me until now how sort of ridiculous that is. But that's the scoop here.

The expectations couldn't be higher and the real test is going to be whether the women can rise to the occasion or whether Nebraska State will wilt until the pressure.

The regular season ended with a #2 seed in the Big 12 tourney, but the Pronghorns rolled through the tournament knocking off Iowa State, the top seed in the conference final. They go into the NCAAs with a record of 29-5.



#1 NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/10/13 vs. Brown 19-10 75 W 85-42 1-0
11/11/13 vs. Illinois State 16-16 84 W 96-67 2-0
11/12/13 vs. #15 VCU 26-6 14 W 92-76 3-0
11/13/13 vs. #12 Houston 24-8 25 L 79-75 3-1
11/20/13 at #4 Towson 30-2 12 W 83-67 4-1
11/22/13 Jackson State 15-15 173 W 86-68 5-1
11/26/13 at #6 Connecticut 29-4 2 W 103-68 6-1
12/01/13 Michigan 17-14 58 W 96-50 7-1
12/04/13 at Portland 18-17 105 W 79-70 8-1
12/07/13 Arizona State 14-16 127 W 95-72 9-1
12/13/13 Pittsburgh 22-11 28 W 81-48 10-1
12/22/13 at Wyoming 23-9 99 L 92-82 10-2
12/30/13 South Florida 15-16 65 W 98-65 11-2
01/05/14 at North Dakota State 20-10 143 W 99-69 12-2
01/10/14 CCNY 16-15 280 W 98-82 13-2
01/15/14 at Texas Tech 16-15 30 W 89-41 14-2 (1-0)
01/18/14 Kansas State 12-18 72 L 62-59 14-3 (1-1)
01/22/14 at Kansas 13-19 43 W 94-64 15-3 (2-1)
01/25/14 Texas Christian 11-21 97 W 98-61 16-3 (3-1)
01/29/14 at Texas Christian 11-21 97 W 79-72 17-3 (4-1)
02/01/14 Oklahoma State 18-13 38 W 92-85 18-3 (5-1)
02/05/14 West Virginia 21-10 13 W 96-71 19-3 (6-1)
02/08/14 at Kansas State 12-18 72 W 90-60 20-3 (7-1)
02/12/14 Texas Tech 16-15 30 W 82-76 21-3 (8-1)
02/15/14 #5 Iowa State 28-4 3 L 92-81 21-4 (8-2)
02/19/14 at Oklahoma State 18-13 38 W 112-77 22-4 (9-2)
02/22/14 at #24 Oklahoma 23-9 21 W 107-90 23-4 (10-2)
02/26/14 at #21 Southern Methodist 22-8 56 L 79-76 23-5 (10-3)
03/01/14 Baylor 14-16 60 W 86-78 24-5 (11-3)
03/05/14 Kansas 13-19 43 W 91-68 25-5 (12-3)
03/08/14 at #7 Texas 26-4 11 W 94-92 26-5 (13-3)
03/13/14 vs. Kansas 13-19 43 W 67-59 27-5
03/14/14 vs. #24 Oklahoma 23-9 21 W 107-101 28-5
03/15/14 vs. #5 Iowa State 28-4 3 W 80-73 29-5



The SEC led the field with 7 bids, Big East & Big 12 had 6, Big Ten and ACC had 5 apiece.

We earned the #1 seed in the Midwest region and will play the winner of a play-in game.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
1st round: 16) Eastern Illinois, (W 80-43)
2nd round: 9) Kentucky (W, 80-62)
Sweet 16: 4) Houston (W, 90-79)
Elite 8: 7) NC State (W, 93-81)

FINAL FOUR
It's going to be a Big 12 party, apparently.

1) Iowa State 1) Nebraska State 1) North Carolina 5) West Virginia

We face off against West Virginia in the other semi-final. We only played them once this year, it was in Kearney and we beat them 96-71. But of course, none of that matters right now. They're 25-10 and boast four scorers averaging in double figures including Elizabeth Hill, who is putting down over 20 PPG, more than anyone on our team individually.



Nebraska State 82, West Virginia 62

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
West Virginia (25-11, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Amber Otoole C 22 0-3 0-0 4 5 2 4 0
Amiya Myers PF 25 3-7 1-4 1 7 2 3 7
Olivia Lopez PF 23 1-8 0-1 2 10 0 5 2
Elizabeth Hill SG 33 5-21 10-13 0 9 1 2 23
Ruby Homan PG 32 2-6 0-0 1 2 3 4 6
Aaliyah Boatright PG 21 2-5 2-2 1 2 3 2 6
Hayley Ray SF 21 5-8 0-0 1 4 1 1 13
Kassidy Castle SG 6 2-6 0-0 0 0 1 2 5
Elyse Koon C 16 0-1 0-0 1 3 1 3 0

Turnovers: 15 (A.Otoole 2, A.Myers 1, O.Lopez 2, E.Hill
1, R.Homan 2, A.Boatright 2, H.Ray 1, K.Castle 2,
E.Koon 2)
Blocked Shots: 3 (A.Myers 2, E.Koon 1)
Steals: 5 (E.Hill 2, A.Boatright 1, K.Castle 2)
3P FGs: 9-20 (E.Hill 3-7, R.Homan 2-3, A.Boatright 0-3,
H.Ray 3-4, K.Castle 1-3)

Nebraska State (34-5, 13-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Yuming Jiang C 20 0-2 0-0 4 9 1 4 0
Nadziejan Adamicz PF 33 8-13 3-8 1 14 5 3 19
Sydnee Castel SF 29 5-13 6-6 4 10 1 3 16
Lucy Ensfield SG 27 7-12 1-2 0 0 2 4 15
Mariam O'Brien PG 33 2-11 0-0 2 11 12 2 4
Lea Thierauf SF 20 4-6 2-5 0 2 0 1 12
Andee Hooper PG 12 1-2 4-5 1 3 1 1 6
Mia Miele SG 7 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0
Gabrielle Jackson PF 13 2-2 4-4 0 1 1 0 9
Gabriella Richie C 5 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1

Turnovers: 12 (Y.Jiang 2, N.Adamicz 2, M.O'Brien 3,
L.Thierauf 3, A.Hooper 1, M.Miele 1)
Blocked Shots: 11 (N.Adamicz 9, S.Castel 1, M.O'Brien 1)
Steals: 6 (Y.Jiang 1, S.Castel 2, M.O'Brien 1, A.Hooper
2)
3P FGs: 3-15 (Y.Jiang 0-2, M.O'Brien 0-7, L.Thierauf
2-4, A.Hooper 0-1, G.Jackson 1-1)

Player of Game: PF Nadziejan Adamicz (BRASKA)




The national title game will be a rematch of last year's title game between Nebraska State and North Carolina.



North Carolina 87, Nebraska State 59

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nebraska State (34-6, 13-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Yuming Jiang C 29 3-5 0-1 4 13 1 3 6
Nadziejan Adamicz PF 32 5-16 1-2 4 14 2 2 11
Sydnee Castel SF 21 3-5 0-0 0 3 3 4 6
Lucy Ensfield SG 32 6-16 4-6 0 0 0 0 16
Mariam O'Brien PG 33 1-4 2-2 2 4 11 2 4
Lea Thierauf SF 18 3-8 4-4 0 2 0 0 12
Andee Hooper PG 10 1-2 0-0 1 1 2 2 2
Mia Miele SG 6 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Gabrielle Jackson PF 13 0-2 0-1 0 0 0 1 0
Gabriella Richie C 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Iris Harris C 1 0-0 2-2 0 1 0 0 2

Turnovers: 17 (Y.Jiang 2, N.Adamicz 2, S.Castel 1,
L.Ensfield 4, M.O'Brien 3, L.Thierauf 1, A.Hooper 1,
M.Miele 2, G.Richie 1)
Blocked Shots: 9 (N.Adamicz 3, S.Castel 1, M.O'Brien 3,
L.Thierauf 1, A.Hooper 1)
Steals: 3 (L.Thierauf 2, G.Jackson 1)
3P FGs: 2-11 (Y.Jiang 0-1, M.O'Brien 0-2, L.Thierauf
2-6, A.Hooper 0-1, G.Jackson 0-1)

North Carolina (36-2, 12-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Ruby Pounds C 31 2-2 0-1 4 10 3 3 4
Ekwueme Saro-Wiwa PF 33 7-11 6-8 3 8 2 3 20
Adeline Dowdell SF 33 6-20 0-0 2 3 2 0 18
Emily Wolfinger SG 32 8-16 0-0 0 5 5 1 21
Emmy Rosenberg PG 26 5-13 3-4 3 6 0 5 13
Sofia Bowers C 19 1-3 0-0 0 5 2 2 2
Abbie Peterson SF 12 3-4 0-0 0 3 3 2 7
Mackenzie Shealy PG 7 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 2
Kamila Sedlacek PF 5 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 0 0
Wilson Ng C 2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
T. Yashkevich PF 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 10 (E.Saro-Wiwa 4, E.Wolfinger 2,
E.Rosenberg 3, M.Shealy 1)
Blocked Shots: 7 (R.Pounds 2, E.Saro-Wiwa 4, S.Bowers 1)
Steals: 9 (E.Saro-Wiwa 2, A.Dowdell 1, E.Wolfinger 5,
E.Rosenberg 1)
3P FGs: 12-31 (A.Dowdell 6-17, E.Wolfinger 5-11,
E.Rosenberg 0-1, A.Peterson 1-1, T.Yashkevich 0-1)

Player of Game: SG Emily Wolfinger (UNC)




UNC claims their first title since 1986 and we go home on the losing end.

[Young Drachma]

Here's the current list of coaches with the most wins in my particular universe. Because why Coach Charles is chasing Pat Summitt, there have been luminaries in this game prior to her arrival that are worth noting.


Coach Wins Records

# NAME SEASON RECORD CURRENT TEAM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Veronica Gower 2016 1108 Retired
2. Britney Miller 1985 1037 Retired
3. Rosa Harkins 1973 948 Retired
4. Melina Lefebvre 1973 912 Retired
5. Sue Muldowney 2028 901 Nebraska State
6. Neveah Bragg 1993 874 Retired
7. Yaretzi Irizarry 2015 872 Retired
8. Nevaeh Lavigne 2010 858 Retired
9. Esme Nesbitt 2027 829 Retired
10. Hailee Gambill 2027 825 Retired
11. Jade Neal 1977 815 Retired
12. Natasha Jones 2028 787 Iowa State
13. Madeleine Hebert 2024 786 Retired
14. Jade Dorsey 1971 785 Retired
15. America Ripley 1980 783 Retired
16. Macie Vann 2022 782 Retired
17. Carly Tolson 2017 758 Retired
18. Gisselle McCulley 1969 757 Retired
19. Sophia Bennett 2018 751 Retired
20. Quinn Kerby 1970 746 Retired
21. Hadassah Woodward 2001 715 Retired
22. Madison Johnson 2015 711 Retired
23. Brielle Twitty 1968 702 Retired
24. Alayah Stumpf 1995 698 Retired
25. Rosa Drake 1977 696 Retired
26. Miah Oliver 1985 695 Retired
27. Hadassah Jones 1981 693 Retired
28. Ashley Doody 1979 691 Retired
29. Makayla Lovett 1966 687 Retired
30. Amiyah Vogt 1997 676 Retired
31. Journey Young 1975 670 Retired
32. Darrisha Metcalfe 1989 665 Retired
33. Emily Smith 1996 652 Retired
34. Victoria Ross 2014 652 Retired
35. Shaleigh Josephson 1973 644 Retired
36. Rylie Bridgers 1972 642 Retired
37. Micaela Bosco 2003 642 Retired
38. Chaya Urquhart 1967 637 Retired
39. Doniece Crawley 1972 634 Retired

# NAME SEASON RECORD CURRENT TEAM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40. Arely Silva 2011 628 Retired
41. Zaniyah Marshall 1977 621 Retired
42. Barbara Jones 1962 619 Retired
43. Mikaela Danforth 1994 618 Retired
44. Emerson Lattimore 1990 607 Retired
45. Taryn Dameron 1988 604 Retired
46. Lily Aguiar 2028 603 St. John's
47. Camille Polston 2023 602 Retired
48. Violeta Rountree 1977 601 Retired
49. Jayla Fabian 2014 601 Retired
50. Abigail Dillingham 1962 598 Retired

Coach NCAA Championships Records

# NAME SEASON RECORD CURRENT TEAM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Sue Muldowney 2028 7 Nebraska State
2. Melina Lefebvre 1973 6 Retired
3. Macey Kelm 1959 4 Retired
4. Rosa Harkins 1973 3 Retired
5. Nevaeh Lavigne 2010 3 Retired
6. Talia Thomas 1961 2 Retired
7. Gisselle McCulley 1969 2 Retired
8. Mira Thomas 1971 2 Retired
9. Jade Neal 1977 2 Retired
10. Evie Cohn 1985 2 Retired
11. Sage Dabney 1990 2 Retired
12. Nia Hovey 1992 2 Retired
13. Mikaela Danforth 1994 2 Retired
14. Malaya Speck 2000 2 Retired
15. Daniella Barhorst 2010 2 Retired
16. Victoria Ross 2014 2 Retired
17. Jolene Brown 2022 2 Retired
18. Hailee Gambill 2027 2 Retired
19. Viviana Bishop 1942 1 Retired
20. Aniya Beasley 1950 1 Retired
21. Braelynn Nesbitt 1951 1 Retired
22. Darrisha Mercer 1955 1 Retired
23. Esme Sparkman 1955 1 Retired
24. Esme Jett 1963 1 Retired
25. Brielle Twitty 1968 1 Retired
26. Esme Hurst 1971 1 Retired
27. Jade Dorsey 1971 1 Retired
28. Arianna Brothers 1976 1 Retired
29. Reyna Bromley 1977 1 Retired
30. Emilee Dumont 1977 1 Retired
31. Raelynn Mardis 1977 1 Retired
32. Ashley Doody 1979 1 Retired
33. America Ripley 1980 1 Retired
34. Hadassah Jones 1981 1 Retired
35. Britney Miller 1985 1 Retired
36. Willa Mackenzie 1987 1 Retired
37. Alayah Mowery 1988 1 Retired
38. Isis Dayton 1991 1 Retired
39. Alicia Speck 1992 1 Retired

# NAME SEASON RECORD CURRENT TEAM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40. Maya Mueller 1996 1 Retired
41. Mariam Jeter 2003 1 Retired
42. Aspen Flora 2005 1 Retired
43. Kaia Myrick 2006 1 Retired
44. Kayleen Moye 2009 1 Retired
45. Emma Moore 2012 1 Retired
46. Isabella Soukup 2012 1 Retired
47. Jayla Fabian 2014 1 Retired
48. Veronica Gower 2016 1 Retired
49. Caitlin Craven 2016 1 Retired
50. Jay White 2018 1 Retired

[Young Drachma]

So we have four seniors this year, but they are mostly just role players and not of the impact variety. They'll be key components in helping us move forward this year towards what we hope is a 3rd straight Finals appearance and another title, but with another #1 recruiting class under our belts, we're expecting good things.

What I've decided to do is for the next ten years, I'm just going to let the AI control everything (well except the notional human character so she doesn't take another job...) and then see what happens.

My thinking is that it's been a bit too easy with a human controlling stuff and it might be better to see what the computer does with her over the next decade. So we'll sim through the next 14 years, since I did the recruiting for this current class.

That'll put us in line to coach her 30th season through her 38th and final season to see how she does. I'm hoping that a successor emerges sometime over the next 20 years or so too. Most anyone now would be too old to do it, but perhaps we'll find an assistant we can keep on for a long period of time or someone on the staff by then will be good enough to handle the shift.

Not that I intend to go further necessarily. But just saying...

In a naming footnote, Sue Charles married John Dickinson Muldowney and they've had one son they named Trevor. She had him after the 2013 season when she was 38.

[Young Drachma]

What I've been doing through this portion in addition to simming, is making sure when assistants leave I've been replacing them with first-time assistant coaches who become former players of the program since the game can't do it automatically.

So then the coaching tree is like Pat Summit's where it's full of former players.

[Young Drachma]

Ok, so 14 years are up but I'm gonna run through a 15th year before taking over the program again. It'll be Sue Muldowney's 30th season and so, I'll have seasons left before she retires. Her record and team's results through the years we simmed are available in the first post. Also showed you the updated wins record. In our universe, it's 1108 so Sue has about 9 years to get 200 or so wins.

She has more titles than any coach, 2nd in win %, more all-americans and more conference titles.

[Young Drachma]

We are into the 32nd season of Coach Charles-Muldowney's tenure as the 1st and only head coach that Nebraska State women's basketball has ever known.

There are six seasons left, as we're going to retire her after her 38th season.

Still plotting the best way to go through the recaps...but I have been updating everything in the first thread so you get a sense of how things have been going.

[Young Drachma]

It's the 35th season of Coach Sue Muldowney's career. It's sort of amazing how time flies when you consider that we were just getting started here not too long ago. But she has single-handedly built the program at Nebraska State. There are whispers that might be ready to "pursue a new challenge" and quietly, the school has begun pinging possibilities for her role, knowing that as she nears 60 she will want to step down, as she's said always that she "never intended to coach forever."

Here's the roster heading into the current season, which I had nothing to do with. I've stopped recruiting for the program ages ago and so their performance over the past two decades or so hasn't had anything to do with my input:


#2 NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS General

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kara Owens 35 C Sr 6-4 236 Yes 89 OK Houston, TX
Jaylen Swinford 12 SF Jr 5-7 191 Yes 15 OK Clear Lake, WI
Emily Humbert 10 C Jr 6-2 243 Yes 91 OK Sanger, TX
Anna Kalinin 4 PF Jr 6-5 237 Yes 35 OK Kirov, Russia
Jette Deguenther 13 PG Jr 5-7 166 Yes 42 OK Freiberg, Germany
Chloe Weese 0 SG So 5-4 166 Yes 31 OK Shoreham, NY
Kenzie Wesson 42 SF So 5-11 237 Yes 68 Unhappy Pensacola, FL
Addison Baron 44 SG So 6-0 173 Yes 53 OK Washburn, WI
Matilda Anderson 5 SG Fr 5-7 183 Yes 20 OK Rockhampton, Australia
Elin Vanover 2 PF Fr 6-4 208 Yes 97 OK Godley, TX
Abigail McConnell 32 C Fr 6-1 229 Yes 62 OK Littleton, CO
Tenley Rayfield 40 SG Fr 5-9 199 Yes 82 OK Edmonton, Canada
Masego Jaja 30 PG Fr 5-5 152 Yes 29 OK Yeovilton, UK



Muldowney is 47 wins away from tying Veronica Gower's record of 1108 set in 2016 after she retired from Iowa State. The difference is, Muldowney got all of her wins at the same school. She has the highest win percentage currently of any coach, surpassing the .857 set by former Tennessee coach Macey Kelm back in 1959 where she won 4 titles in 19 years.

Her eight titles and 24 conference titles tops the list and she's coached more all-americans (46) than any other coach by nearly double.

So there's a wonder about what's her motivation to stay around other than chase the wins record and perhaps get to 10 titles.

With that said, we're going to see how the next year goes while also monitoring the upstarts. I can't decide what I want to do next. Whether I ought to follow the progress of the next coach to follow her with the program or move on to some other challenge in this universe.

Whether she'll catch Coach Summitt or not is seemingly inevitable, but given the challenges of doing it how Pat did when she did it, says a lot. Still, building a program into a formidible one is saying a lot too. And when it's all said and done, no coach in the game will have ever done what Sue Muldowney did and with that...we'll need to see if someone can follow HER act and reach the milestones she's set.

Because that might be more impossible than our initial task.

[Young Drachma]

With three seasons left in her career and nearing the record for most wins, I'm tempted to add some levels of difficulty as she reaches her quest since we're now so close.

One of those was the geographically illogical move to put the Nebraska State squad into the SEC. I figured it was crowning pinnacle of the story since it was based on Pat Summitt's club in the SEC. Evening out the league with 16 was founding member Georgia Tech. It makes the SEC even more formidable than before and there will be absolutely no breaks in that schedule.

There were some other conference moves, like adding Pitt to the Big Ten, West Virginia to the ACC, Tulane and Wyoming to the Big 12 (remember, Wyoming is actually good in this universe and has been for a while...) and so we'll see what the new universe looks like.

I also, for the first time, turned on academic suspensions because I want to make the next 4 years really hard and want to see what kinds of results it produces. Also jacked up injuries for the same reason. It won't necessarily stay that way, but...that's what we're doing for at least the next year to see what happens.

[Young Drachma]

All right, so I've decided what I'm going to do.

In a move best termed as unorthodox, when Sue Muldowney retires I'm going to reboot this dynasty in a completely different state maintaining the history of Nebraska State but with a new program.

I'm thinking I'd like to keep going, but in a state that actually produces its own in-state talent.

[Young Drachma]

I've been trying to figure out precisely how we'd end Sue Muldowney's career. As of her 36th season, she passed the all-time wins mark. I've been trying to figure out a way to get back to the roots of the story in a sense while focusing on the coach's end and I've come up with a solution.

The twist in our story is now that Sue Muldowney is being forced out by the program that she built from the ground up. School officials are privately wondering whether or not she's losing her touch, despite a streak of NCAA tourney appearances, Top 10 recruiting classes and are wanting to groom her replacement now while the program is stop at a high place rather than waiting for some kind of inevitable decline before pushing the coach out when she's too old to coach.

Coach Muldowney is sure that she does not want to step down or retire, because she feels she still has a lot left to give. So after an impasse, the two parties decide to meet to discuss what they'll do about her future. It's evident that she's probably never going to coach another game with the program. Alums are upset, but are split as they understand that the program needs to move forward.

The school wants Coach Muldowney to move into a VP role with the university, but she's not interested in any ceremonial jobs. She wants to coach plain and simple.

Nebraska State seems to believe that she will not get hired by most schools due to her age and the fact that she can't be afforded. They also don't want her to leave though.

In the end, the decision will be made for Coach Muldowney to leave. Officially, the parties will say it's a retirement. But she will then crop up a few months later taking over a job at another program. The rules are that it needs to be a program with a prestige at 70 or lower.

I haven't decided whether she'll just coach the last two years of her career and stop at 58 or if she'll coach for longer and establish a new legacy elsewhere. The story arc now turns to this idea that the John Wooden of women's hoops has moved on. The questions will abound whether she can duplicate her success elsewhere, with no help from me or anything like that. It'll be straight up a coaching job of an unprecedented scope.

Naturally I have no idea where she'll go or anything yet, but...stay tuned!

[Young Drachma]

Part of this story arc is trying to figure out what would possess a program to pass on someone who has built them up. Perhaps in the modern era, we've seen it more. Though 58 is considered young, she's had the helm of the program from the start.

Meanwhile, the coach decides that she's good enough to do it anywhere and believes that's precisely what she'll do. From the start, she rules out elite programs. Too many friends in those situations and too big a fishbowl. She wants to go someplace off the beaten path like where she started knowing that she can make a name for a place like that and the people will be continually grateful for what they get.

The biggest difference? The drop in resources compared to what she's used to at Nebraska State.

But before we get to that point, we're going to need to evaluate the possible programs that are vying for what will rival Peyton Manning leaving the Colts for most interesting free agency move we've seen.

She's going to be looking for a program that 1) hasn't had a lot of success 2) that's in a mid-major conference and 3) where there are a lot of seniors so she can immediately begin recruiting and can remake the program in her own image.

I'm not sure if being in a place with its own local recruiting base is a priority, but I imagine that it will be after years of coaching in relatively barren Nebraska.

Next, we'll profile the finalist programs and pick her next job.

[Young Drachma]

Sue Muldowney has been asked to leave Nebraska State. Officially she will retire and not return for her 37th season, but she will turn up a few weeks later as the new head coach of a completely different program after 36 years at the helm of the program at Nebraska State.

Her goal is to find a program where she can make an impact. We haven't decided how long she'll stay coaching, it might be for the next two years or it might be longer than that.

We also don't know who will be the person to replace her at Nebraska State, but we'll tackle that after we figure out where she's going. I originally was thinking only mid-major, but as I've gone through I feel like there are some intriguing possibilities that we need to consider.

The only coach in this dynasty's nearly 100-year history to claim titles with multiple teams was Melinda Lefebvre who won 3 titles with Duke, before leaving for UConn and winning three more in the 1960s and 1970s.

IUPUI (Prestige: 36, Summit League)
Budget: $287,625
#2 rated facilities in their conference, have made the NCAAs 6 times in their history, but only once in the last 25 years. Roster boasts six seniors.

FGCU (Prestige: 28, Atlantic Sun)
Budget: $265,000
Last NCAA appearance came in 1977. Pretty much barren situation, but at least they're in Florida.

North Florida (Prestige: 24, Atlantic Sun)
Budget: $260,000
Last NCAA appearance came in 1979. Pretty much barren situation, but at least they're in Florida. Coach has had the job for eight years.

Creighton (Prestige: 65, Missouri Valley)
Budget: $497,500
It's not an upgrade, but from the perspective of "stay in the neighborhood and show them whose boss" this move would make sense. Two years removed from a 26-win season were they made the NCAAs.

Kentucky (Prestige: 67, SEC)
Budget: $576,250
Obviously not a mid-major. But the program has made 12 NCAA appearances ever and only has one Sweet 16 in school history. Making it easier, they're without a coach.

New Orleans (Prestige: 39, C-USA)
Budget: $338,812
Only the 7th year of the program, they've made one post-season tourney in their existence. Seems less likely an option, since the coach is a Louisiana native. But I thought it was an interesting program to put on the list.

USC (Prestige: 100, Pac-12)
Budget: $800,000
I actually had UCLA here, as they've never won a national title either. But USC has made more Final Fours than any program never to win a national title (11). They also don't have a head coach at the moment, making this the almost perfect landing spot for a Hall of Fame coach to cement her legacy.

Florida State (Prestige: 74, ACC)
Budget: $602,500
Have been to the Sweet 16 four times but have never reached the Elite 8 in program history. Have made 3 NCAA appearances in the past seven years, but have never been able to get over the hump as a program. Obviously in Florida where recruiting might be easier to manage, too.

Seems like the likely outlet is to pursue a major conference gig, because she wants to prove she can still coach at a high level, especially since there are major conference gigs actually available. Because really, the only thing left to cement her legacy would be taking two schools to national titles.

[Young Drachma]

The hardest job is following a legend. Now we need to figure out who will replace Sue Muldowney as head coach at Nebraska State after 26 years. If the choice is made to go to the pipeline, there are these names:

Frederique Rigsby, UNLV
Emily Grande, UCLA
Addison Tran, Louisville
Madison Glass, Ohio State
Isabella Slover, Scottsbluff State
Gianna Ramey, Kansas
Juliana Poling, Northern Illinois
Grace Bassett, Green Bay
Allison Nelson, San Francisco
Dayana Powell, North Dakota
Ella Walter, Wyoming State
Chloe Arsenault, Cal State-Northridge
Chaya Bergin, Hawaii
Ally Ison, Nebraska-Omaha
Skylar Denton, Yellowstone
Marie Hunley, Bethune-Cookman
Alyssa Duty, Brown
Addison Murray, Wichita State
Maddy Neely, Louisiana-Monroe
Gabrielle Jackson, Cambridge
Andee Hooper, Northern Illinois
Juliette Chaplin, Holy Cross
Aiyana Taylor, Milwaukee
Abbigail McGehee, Chicago
Julia Brinkley, UMKC
Sarah Fowler, IPFW

Now not all of these coaches are currently working as head or assistants. Some have retired, but I wanted to keep a chronicle of all of them so we'd know. A number of them are former players too, which adds to it.

Let's take a look at some of the finalists for the position after a search committee went through and whittled all of the pretenders out:

Chaya Bergin
Head Coach, Duke
Age: 57
Career Record: 464-213
The problem here is she's actually just a year younger than Coach Muldowney. She's two years removed from leading Duke to a national title, the first of her career. If Muldowney were truly retiring, then you'd have to think the first call would go to her, but with the circumstances as they are, it feels like you almost have to go with a younger coach. But should one of them not want the job, Bergin would be a great fallback option to lead the prorgram after a few years.

Ella Walter
Head Coach, Rutgers
Age: 55
Career Record: 427-285
Another one of those coaches who has done well since getting her career going, but whose age would seem to disqualify her. Also, Rutgers last made the Sweet 16 eight years ago. Not exactly the signs of "turning things around" in Jersey. Still, a good Plan B if Bergin weren't interested.

Gabrielle Jackson
Head Coach, Missouri
Age: 40
Career Record: 117-107
Now we're talking. Alumna who was a 4-star recruit out of Omaha. Didn't have much of an impact on the program, but has proven her worth as a coach. She spent three years as an assistant before taking over at Cambridge, spent a year at Akron leading them to the Final Four and has now been at Mizzou for 3 years. Problem? Well, the Tigers haven't been very good and since she's not even the most famous alumna of the program coaching, it'll mix the audience if she were to be hired. But still, a Final Four appearance is no small feat, especially for a young coach.

Addison Murray
Head Coach, Northern Iowa
Age: 40
Career Record: 187-133
Another lightly used former player that went on to be a coach. She left after serving four years as an assistant during the three-straight title run of the early 20s. After starting at Wichita State, she left for Tulane and is heading into her 4th year at UNI where she took a program taht won 9 games in her first year to back-to-back 20+ win seasons. A much better fit probably than Jackson.

Juliette Chaplin
Head Coach, Marist
Age: 31
Career Record: 91-95
Will be remembered as a key player on title teams during her career (2023-26) but was not a star. Still, as a youngster and well-regarded young coach, could be a useful pick to consider if the program strikes out on a better regarded alumna.

Aiyana Taylor
Head Coach, UW-Milwaukee
Age: 30
Career Record: 71-61
She's still in her first coaching job after leaving the program in '30 after four years under Coach Muldowney. All-time leading scoring program history and one of only two players with over 3000 points in her Nebraska State playing career, all-time assists leader and steals.

Heading into her 5th year, she's taken the program from two 11-win seasons her first two years to back-to-back 20-win seasons. They lost in the Sweet 16 this year after winning the A4/USCAA tournament in '33. Best of all, her jersey number hangs from the rafters which will provide instant credibility. She's the fan's choice hands down.

Alyssa Duty
Head Coach, Georgia
Age: 45
Career Record: 175-181
3rd leading scorer in program history, but easily the player that's most associated with Nebraska State basketball in the annals of history because she was part of some of the first teams to ever exist. She graduated in 2011, just 12 years after the program was founded. Her coaching career hasn't taken her to the most successful places. After three years at Brown, she spent seven years at Alabama State before joining the Bulldogs this year. She's a good coach, well-regarded and seems to boast the right balance of age, with experience and embodiment of the Pronghorn spirit. She's the favorite of the majority of the boosters.

So those are our finalists. Truly have not made a decision yet.

[Ramzavail]

Alyssa Duty. Pipeline time.

[Ramzavail]

and definitely USC.

[Young Drachma]

The USC tie opportunity was too much to pass up. Coach Muldowney, just 15 days after announcing her retirement at Nebraska State inked a 2-year deal to become head coach at USC.

"This is an opportunity I couldn't pass up," she said. Meanwhile, the replace her the program went back to its deep well of talent and hired former Pronghorns star Alyssa Duty. It came down to Duty and 30-year old Milwaukee head coach Aiyana Taylor who took the Panthers to a Sweet 16 last year. But in the end, the decision was made to give the job to the more experienced Duty, who has had three straight winning seasons at SEC counterpart Georgia.

Aiyana Taylor doesn't want anyone to cry for her. She's was also a finalist for jobs at DePaul, Kentucky, could've taken Duty's job at Georgia if she wanted it too. In the end, she opted for the golden goose gig at Purdue, the defending national champions. A huge jump for her, but being in the midwest already made them comfortable and it's the kind of job where the program hoped essentially that she could become like her mentor and have an extremely long career in one place.

So we'll be following both USC and seeing what happens at Nebraska State in passing to see how the mentor and the student do.

[korme]

It's like Bobby Knight leaving IU

[Young Drachma]

So USC has lost in the Elite 8 four out of the last five years. They had the #9 recruiting class in the NCAA last year (Nebraska State was #3) and the two programs inked a home/home deal, that will have the Trojans come to Kearney on December 19th, where it's expected the fans will greet Coach Muldowney to a hero's welcome.

The roster is completely insane at USC. They've got just two seniors, one is Chloe Brooks who was rated #2 in her class. Four of the starters are former 5 recruits, one is a Top 50 and yeah...the situation is stacked and it'll be intriguing to see what Muldowney is able to do with them. She brought along a connection to the old Nebraska State regime, hiring former player and Pronghorn assistant Andee Hooper after she spent a year at Pitt as an assistant and years after head coaching at Northern Illinois and St. Louis before being fired at SLU two years ago.

So my plan, of course, is to just sim through the regular season and then we'll recap these seasons with the kind of modest detail from earlier. It'll be interesting to see how it goes and how Nebraska State does in the wake of her departure too.

[Young Drachma]

So let's compare regular seasons, shall we?


NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/28/35 vs. St. John's 17-14 92 W 64-53 1-0
11/29/35 vs. Miami 18-13 71 W 71-59 2-0
12/02/35 Southern Utah 15-17 135 W 77-59 3-0
12/07/35 Hawaii 27-7 22 W 97-73 4-0
12/11/35 Central Florida 21-11 42 W 88-60 5-0
12/13/35 at Wyoming Poly 13-16 215 W 95-84 6-0
12/16/35 Minnesota 12-21 133 W 91-90 7-0
12/19/35 #3 Southern California 28-3 4 L 69-57 7-1
12/25/35 #9 Providence 28-5 6 L 84-73 7-2
12/29/35 at South Dakota 10-20 388 W 63-49 8-2
12/31/35 at Oral Roberts 14-16 287 W 101-58 9-2
01/02/36 at Murray State 8-22 359 W 83-64 10-2
01/05/36 Houston Baptist 16-15 110 W 88-58 11-2
01/07/36 Chicago State 19-14 169 W 81-72 12-2
01/15/36 at Arkansas 21-10 38 W 73-71 13-2 (1-0)
01/19/36 Missouri 11-19 189 W 79-64 14-2 (2-0)
01/22/36 at Missouri 11-19 189 W 76-60 15-2 (3-0)
01/26/36 at #7 Florida 28-5 5 L 69-62 15-3 (3-1)
01/29/36 Auburn 13-17 176 W 74-54 16-3 (4-1)
02/02/36 Georgia Tech 20-12 30 L 80-72 16-4 (4-2)
02/05/36 Louisiana State 18-12 51 L 104-99 16-5 (4-3)
02/09/36 at #14 Tennessee 26-7 14 L 84-76 16-6 (4-4)
02/12/36 Texas A&M 18-14 114 W 89-81 17-6 (5-4)
02/16/36 Alabama 18-13 64 W 74-58 18-6 (6-4)
02/19/36 at Vanderbilt 15-17 60 L 81-75 18-7 (6-5)
02/23/36 at #16 South Carolina 25-7 7 L 101-74 18-8 (6-6)
02/26/36 Mississippi 15-17 65 W 84-63 19-8 (7-6)
03/01/36 at Mississippi State 17-14 95 W 86-58 20-8 (8-6)
03/04/36 Kentucky 11-20 294 W 76-54 21-8 (9-6)
03/08/36 at #23 Georgia 23-7 24 L 96-91 21-9 (9-7)
03/13/36 vs. Georgia Tech 20-12 30 L 92-58 21-10





#3 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TROJANS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/20/35 Rutgers 17-13 39 W 81-76 1-0
11/28/35 at San Diego State 18-15 155 W 77-49 2-0
12/03/35 at Loyola Marymount 13-17 242 W 75-41 3-0
12/10/35 at Cal State Fullerton 22-10 45 W 76-56 4-0
12/14/35 at UC Irvine 10-20 297 W 86-65 5-0
12/16/35 at Castro Valley State 10-19 342 W 69-37 6-0
12/19/35 at Nebraska State 21-10 23 W 69-57 7-0
12/22/35 Utah Valley 7-24 345 W 80-62 8-0
12/24/35 Butler 9-21 257 W 77-40 9-0
12/28/35 Central Florida 21-11 42 W 76-58 10-0
01/02/36 Houston Baptist 16-15 110 W 77-66 11-0
01/10/36 Utah 20-12 41 W 83-72 12-0 (1-0)
01/12/36 at Arizona State 12-19 167 W 71-39 13-0 (2-0)
01/17/36 Washington 13-17 68 W 95-52 14-0 (3-0)
01/19/36 at Oregon 20-11 31 W 89-60 15-0 (4-0)
01/24/36 Colorado 16-16 149 W 71-51 16-0 (5-0)
01/26/36 Arizona 16-17 100 W 83-69 17-0 (6-0)
01/31/36 California 23-9 25 W 87-61 18-0 (7-0)
02/02/36 at Washington State 14-16 146 W 90-58 19-0 (8-0)
02/07/36 at #19 UCLA 25-8 19 L 94-80 19-1 (8-1)
02/09/36 at Colorado 16-16 149 W 78-64 20-1 (9-1)
02/14/36 at Utah 20-12 41 W 82-71 21-1 (10-1)
02/16/36 Washington State 14-16 146 W 63-55 22-1 (11-1)
02/21/36 at Stanford 21-9 32 W 58-43 23-1 (12-1)
02/23/36 at Arizona 16-17 100 L 86-85 23-2 (12-2)
02/28/36 Arizona State 12-19 167 W 84-44 24-2 (13-2)
03/01/36 Oregon State 11-19 209 W 100-60 25-2 (14-2)
03/06/36 Oregon 20-11 31 W 96-62 26-2 (15-2)
03/08/36 at Washington 13-17 68 W 98-58 27-2 (16-2)
03/13/36 vs. Arizona 16-17 100 W 84-53 28-2
03/14/36 vs. California 23-9 25 L 64-63 28-3


So as head into the NCAAs, in the West Region USC is the 1) seed. The 8) seed? Nebraska State. This game is hilarious.

[Young Drachma]

NCAA TOURNAMENT 2035

Nebraska State lost in the 1st round to UNLV 63-57.

USC
----
1st round: 16) UL-Lafayette, W 67-49
2nd round: 9) UNLV, W 91-55
Sweet 16: 13) Cal State-Fullerton, W 73-48

The matchup against Duke in the Elite 8 pits her against Chaya Bergin, who was an assistant under her at Nebraska State many moons ago.

Elite 8: 2) Duke W, 81-78

With the win, the Trojans make their first Final Four in 23 years. What a difference a coach makes, it seems.

Final Four: 4) UCLA

[B]The City of Los Angeles is on fire right now. Neither program has ever won a title and the winner advances to attempt to claim one. Meanwhile in the other semi-final, it's 1) Texas v. 4) UNC. The Longhorns last title came in 1962, while the Tar Heels last claimed the second of back-to-back titles 24 years ago.

[Young Drachma]

Southern California 77, UCLA 48

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCLA (29-9, 14-4):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Sariah Loesch C 20 1-4 0-0 1 4 1 2 2
Emily Studer PF 30 3-7 0-0 3 7 1 3 6
Gianna Reading SF 29 3-18 0-0 1 6 1 0 6
Leighton Powell SG 28 3-7 2-2 1 5 0 2 10
Yaritza Gage PG 11 1-3 0-0 0 1 0 4 2
Hannah McCusker PG 22 0-2 0-0 0 2 0 4 0
Esmeralda Borja PF 13 0-2 0-0 2 2 2 5 0
Addison Miles SF 21 7-9 1-2 0 1 3 0 17
Laniyah Keen PG 4 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 2 0
Emma Gause C 8 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Hailey Walsh PF 3 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Bridget Alexander PF 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Anna Flaherty SF 7 2-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 5
Mckenna Motta C 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 20 (S.Loesch 1, G.Reading 3, L.Powell 4,
Y.Gage 3, H.McCusker 4, E.Borja 2, A.Miles 3)
Blocked Shots: 13 (E.Studer 10, E.Gause 3)
Steals: 8 (E.Studer 1, G.Reading 3, L.Powell 2,
H.McCusker 1, A.Miles 1)
3P FGs: 5-13 (S.Loesch 0-1, L.Powell 2-4, Y.Gage 0-1,
H.McCusker 0-1, A.Miles 2-3, L.Keen 0-1, A.Flaherty
1-2)

Southern California (33-3, 16-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Brooklyn Dill C 24 0-3 2-2 4 6 0 4 2
Chloe Brooks PF 29 6-10 3-3 3 9 1 1 15
Kylie Soliz SF 29 5-9 2-2 1 7 2 1 17
Karma Loyd SG 30 4-8 7-8 1 4 2 0 17
Katelynn Turnbow PG 22 3-11 1-2 0 8 3 1 9
Lauryn Elson SG 18 2-3 3-4 1 2 2 1 7
Ginesa Perez PG 10 1-3 1-3 1 2 2 0 3
Clara Davis SF 10 0-2 0-0 1 2 2 1 0
Roja Garcia SF 1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Emmy Caceres PF 8 1-2 1-2 0 0 0 0 3
Natalee Clark C 13 1-3 0-0 3 4 0 1 2
Anahi Grafton PF 5 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 1 0

Turnovers: 16 (B.Dill 2, C.Brooks 1, K.Soliz 2, K.Loyd
3, K.Turnbow 3, L.Elson 1, C.Davis 1, N.Clark 1,
A.Grafton 2)
Blocked Shots: 8 (B.Dill 1, C.Brooks 5, K.Turnbow 1,
N.Clark 1)
Steals: 10 (B.Dill 1, C.Brooks 1, K.Soliz 2, K.Loyd 2,
K.Turnbow 1, G.Perez 1, R.Garcia 1, N.Clark 1)
3P FGs: 9-21 (B.Dill 0-1, K.Soliz 5-6, K.Loyd 2-5,
K.Turnbow 2-5, L.Elson 0-1, G.Perez 0-2, C.Davis 0-1)

Player of Game: PF Chloe Brooks (USC)

[Young Drachma]

2035 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP


Southern California 91, Texas 77

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas (33-5, 14-4):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Erika Byrd C 33 1-4 1-4 0 4 6 1 3
Chloe Cantu PF 26 1-2 0-0 4 6 0 4 2
Emma Dilorenzo SF 12 1-4 0-0 1 1 2 4 2
Avery Powell SF 29 7-15 4-4 3 6 2 2 21
Chloe Pemberton PG 30 7-16 2-4 2 6 4 4 21
Ashley Thorton SG 28 4-8 2-2 2 5 1 2 11
Amber Konrad PG 11 3-8 0-0 0 0 1 0 8
Zara Sizemore SF 7 2-2 1-2 0 1 0 0 7
Ashley Wild SF 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Octavio Dominguez PF 11 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 0
Gabriella Wylie C 10 0-2 2-2 1 2 0 0 2

Turnovers: 18 (E.Byrd 2, C.Cantu 4, E.Dilorenzo 2,
A.Powell 3, C.Pemberton 2, A.Thorton 2, A.Konrad 1,
A.Wild 1, O.Dominguez 1)
Blocked Shots: 3 (E.Byrd 2, O.Dominguez 1)
Steals: 11 (E.Byrd 1, E.Dilorenzo 3, A.Powell 2,
C.Pemberton 1, A.Konrad 3, O.Dominguez 1)
3P FGs: 13-25 (E.Dilorenzo 0-1, A.Powell 3-6,
C.Pemberton 5-8, A.Thorton 1-3, A.Konrad 2-5,
Z.Sizemore 2-2)

Southern California (34-3, 16-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Brooklyn Dill C 31 3-7 3-4 2 7 4 1 10
Chloe Brooks PF 29 6-11 4-4 10 12 4 1 16
Kylie Soliz SF 29 5-13 1-3 0 5 2 2 14
Karma Loyd SG 31 4-8 2-3 0 2 2 3 12
Katelynn Turnbow PG 22 5-6 2-2 0 2 3 3 15
Lauryn Elson PG 20 4-4 1-1 0 1 3 1 10
Ginesa Perez PG 7 2-4 0-0 0 3 0 0 6
Clara Davis SF 7 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 1 0
Roja Garcia SF 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Emmy Caceres PF 10 2-4 1-2 1 2 1 2 5
Natalee Clark C 9 1-3 1-2 0 2 0 1 3

Turnovers: 16 (B.Dill 2, K.Soliz 3, K.Loyd 4, K.Turnbow
3, L.Elson 1, G.Perez 1, C.Davis 2)
Blocked Shots: 10 (B.Dill 2, C.Brooks 4, K.Soliz 1,
C.Davis 1, N.Clark 2)
Steals: 7 (C.Brooks 3, K.Soliz 1, K.Loyd 1, K.Turnbow
1, L.Elson 1)
3P FGs: 12-26 (B.Dill 1-3, K.Soliz 3-10, K.Loyd 2-5,
K.Turnbow 3-4, L.Elson 1-1, G.Perez 2-3)

Player of Game: PF Chloe Brooks (USC)

[Young Drachma]

So what's going to happen is, we'll sim through the 2nd year of Coach Muldowney's contract at USC. In theory, it's going to be her last season coaching.

[Young Drachma]

USC is the #2 seed in the East region, Nebraska State is the #6 seed in the Midwest region.


NEBRASKA STATE PRONGHORNS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/19/36 at Nebraska-Omaha 6-26 348 W 102-74 1-0
11/22/36 Providence 16-14 75 W 85-50 2-0
11/29/36 Northern Illinois 14-17 153 W 78-57 3-0
12/01/36 Colorado State 7-23 279 W 80-47 4-0
12/08/36 New Mexico 23-10 36 L 110-105 4-1
12/12/36 San Diego State 8-22 244 W 76-51 5-1
12/18/36 Kansas State 16-14 138 W 81-55 6-1
12/21/36 Green Bay 11-19 294 W 74-57 7-1
12/23/36 at UMKC 14-16 248 W 109-75 8-1
12/27/36 Evansville 15-15 117 W 104-76 9-1
01/02/37 at #2 Southern California 28-4 4 W 71-65 10-1
01/06/37 at Scottsbluff State 5-24 383 W 84-52 11-1
01/10/37 at Wyoming State 8-23 392 W 90-63 12-1
01/13/37 Tennessee 23-8 24 W 82-75 13-1 (1-0)
01/17/37 at Tennessee 23-8 24 L 92-75 13-2 (1-1)
01/20/37 at Georgia 18-13 40 W 64-56 14-2 (2-1)
01/24/37 Vanderbilt 18-14 37 W 88-80 15-2 (3-1)
01/27/37 at Texas A&M 18-12 90 L 54-51 15-3 (3-2)
01/31/37 Mississippi 10-20 127 W 78-38 16-3 (4-2)
02/03/37 at Georgia Tech 22-9 18 L 86-70 16-4 (4-3)
02/07/37 at Missouri 12-20 68 W 62-61 17-4 (5-3)
02/10/37 at #13 South Carolina 27-6 9 L 82-77 17-5 (5-4)
02/14/37 #1 Arkansas 34-1 1 L 84-64 17-6 (5-5)
02/17/37 Auburn 10-21 87 W 60-50 18-6 (6-5)
02/21/37 Alabama 19-11 62 L 83-81 18-7 (6-6)
02/24/37 Kentucky 12-18 174 W 81-48 19-7 (7-6)
02/28/37 at Louisiana State 21-11 31 L 74-69 19-8 (7-7)
03/03/37 at Mississippi State 15-15 72 W 76-72 20-8 (8-7)
03/07/37 #21 Florida 24-8 16 W 77-58 21-8 (9-7)
03/12/37 vs. Vanderbilt 18-14 37 L 77-73 21-9



#2 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TROJANS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/16/36 Colorado State 7-23 279 W 95-56 1-0
11/20/36 Nevada 21-12 44 W 89-51 2-0
11/26/36 at Long Beach State 15-16 185 W 88-72 3-0
11/28/36 at San Fernando Valley State 20-9 228 W 80-62 4-0
11/30/36 Evansville 15-15 117 W 82-54 5-0
12/04/36 South Carolina State 16-15 148 W 72-70 6-0
12/11/36 Akron 14-17 122 W 115-99 7-0
12/13/36 at Loyola Marymount 14-16 191 W 76-52 8-0
12/15/36 at UC Irvine 13-17 267 W 85-69 9-0
12/23/36 at San Diego 15-17 133 W 100-56 10-0
01/02/37 Nebraska State 21-9 34 L 71-65 10-1
01/08/37 Arizona State 14-17 134 W 66-35 11-1 (1-0)
01/10/37 Arizona 21-11 59 W 79-46 12-1 (2-0)
01/15/37 at Oregon 20-10 33 W 90-63 13-1 (3-0)
01/17/37 at Washington State 19-12 45 W 83-65 14-1 (4-0)
01/22/37 Washington 10-20 257 W 86-51 15-1 (5-0)
01/24/37 at Colorado 5-24 296 W 97-59 16-1 (6-0)
01/29/37 at Oregon State 12-19 317 W 75-56 17-1 (7-0)
01/31/37 at #5 California 28-4 7 L 82-64 17-2 (7-1)
02/05/37 at Washington 10-20 257 W 85-64 18-2 (8-1)
02/07/37 Colorado 5-24 296 W 82-40 19-2 (9-1)
02/12/37 at Arizona State 14-17 134 W 88-66 20-2 (10-1)
02/14/37 #5 California 28-4 7 L 75-71 20-3 (10-2)
02/19/37 at Arizona 21-11 59 W 98-86 21-3 (11-2)
02/21/37 UCLA 20-13 28 W 76-58 22-3 (12-2)
02/26/37 Washington State 19-12 45 W 64-46 23-3 (13-2)
02/28/37 #23 Utah 23-7 38 W 85-76 24-3 (14-2)
03/05/37 at Stanford 12-20 108 W 86-71 25-3 (15-2)
03/07/37 Oregon 20-10 33 W 100-97 26-3 (16-2)
03/12/37 vs. Arizona State 14-17 134 W 73-45 27-3
03/13/37 vs. UCLA 20-13 28 W 63-59 28-3
03/14/37 vs. #5 California 28-4 7 L 82-71 28-4

[Young Drachma]

1ST ROUND
East: 2) USC 109, 15) UMass 89
Midwest: 6) Nebraska State 84, Arizona 73

2ND ROUND
East: 7) Houston 74, USC 58
Midwest: 3) UNC 92, Nebraska State 83

Final Four:
1) California 1) Arkansas 5) Texas 1) Penn State

Cal last won a title 14 years ago, but have not missed the tournament in 32 years. Arkansas had its best finish, a lost in the national title game 18 years ago. Penn State is coming off back to back Sweet 16s and is four years removed from their 2nd of back-to-back national titles. Texas, of course, was defeated in last year's national title game by USC.

[Young Drachma]

USC says thanks but no thanks to a 3rd year from Coach Sue Muldowney. After helping the team to their first title in school history, it seems the program is also ready to find its "coach of the future" and has decided to quietly part ways with the future Hall of Fame coach who has 1184 wins, more than any coach in women's basketball history.

Private reports have indicated that Coach Muldowney was considering "coming back for at least another year," feeling more energized heading into her 60th birthday and 39th year of coaching. Some also say that she was hoping to get a 10th championship ring, but was also content to "find a place where she could just settle down and retire," after initially believing she'd want to call it quits after just shy of her 60th birthday.

It's worth noting that USC will have the #1 recruiting class incoming. So you might want to suggest they used her...Nebraska State's class is 4th.

[Young Drachma]

After unconfirmed reports that Sue Muldowney would retire after her 38th season and 2nd at USC, the program announced today that she would sign a 1-year extension to coach her 39th and final season.

"We're extremely grateful for everything Coach M has done for us. We're honored that she's graced us and Los Angeles with her Hall of Fame presence at the end of her career. It's been a real joy to work with her and we're excited for her final season as a head coach," said Athletic Director Joy Griggs.

The Trojans are bringing in the #1 recruiting class in the nation and two years off a national title, hopes are high that the team can reach the promised land once again.

[Young Drachma]

Nebraska State finished 20-10 in the regular season. They earned the #9 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA tourney.

USC finished 26-5 in the regular season and was the 4 seed in the Midwest region, setting up a potential but unlikely Sweet 16 matchup between both teams.

NCAAs
1st Round
8) Illinois 67, Nebraska State 66 (It's hard to follow a legend, kids. This is your lesson of the day.)
4) USC 97, Xavier 62

2nd Round
4) USC 77, 12) Bowling Green 66

Sweet 16
1) Texas 85, 4) USC 83

So her final season at USC ends with a record of 28-6 and a career record of 1212-199.

FINAL FOUR:
10) Kent State (Who beat 13th seeded Cal State-Fullerton to advance)
1) Texas
2) Penn State
7) Portland

So we've got two true Cinderellas in the Final Four for the first time in ages. (I'm talking Cinderellas not induced by anything I might have done behind the scenes...)

And I was sitting here just saying to myself "Well, it's good to see them there. But there's no way I'm doing anything to help them win it. It'll be Penn State v. Texas in the final, of course."

Well...boy, was I wrong:

FINAL FOUR
Kent State 110, Penn State 105


Kent State 110, Penn State 105

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Penn State (31-6, 14-4):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Alissa Phillips C 28 3-9 3-5 5 11 0 5 9
Karlee Figueroa PF 31 1-4 3-4 3 9 0 3 5
Allyson Nelson SF 43 6-20 3-5 7 12 3 2 20
Yamileth Pak SG 32 4-9 3-4 1 4 0 5 15
Stella Foti PG 17 3-4 0-0 0 1 1 5 7
Sarah Bogard PG 37 6-15 6-9 1 4 5 3 21
Sophia Daley SG 16 3-6 2-2 1 7 3 2 9
Lauren Pereira PG 3 1-2 0-0 0 0 1 0 3
Alyssa Rolle C 18 3-5 3-4 2 10 2 2 9
Dayana Catron C 11 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 3 0
Jimena Gerdes PF 9 1-1 3-4 1 2 0 0 5
Charlotte Quevedo SG 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Mckenna Russell C 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 2

Turnovers: 23 (A.Phillips 1, K.Figueroa 3, A.Nelson 3,
Y.Pak 7, S.Foti 3, S.Bogard 4, S.Daley 1, J.Gerdes 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (A.Phillips 3, K.Figueroa 1, A.Nelson
1)
Steals: 4 (S.Bogard 1, D.Catron 1, M.Russell 2)
3P FGs: 15-33 (A.Nelson 5-13, Y.Pak 4-5, S.Foti 1-1,
S.Bogard 3-8, S.Daley 1-3, L.Pereira 1-2, D.Catron 0-1)

Kent State (29-8, 12-4):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Abigail Ice C 28 1-3 1-2 0 2 0 2 3
Jennifer Freitas PF 30 5-9 3-3 2 7 3 4 17
Aaliyah Boyd SF 39 8-22 3-8 3 11 8 4 21
Serenity Salzman SG 35 5-10 4-5 4 11 5 3 16
Esther Williams PG 19 4-7 0-0 0 2 0 5 10
Addison Woods PG 39 2-5 4-8 2 3 3 2 8
E. Christensen SG 11 3-7 2-2 1 2 3 0 10
G. Mullinax PG 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Kylie Stroup SF 4 1-2 0-0 0 1 0 1 2
Chloe Gooch SG 2 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 0 5
Stephanie Watson PF 20 3-6 3-6 1 3 0 4 9
Édith Debuisnes PF 9 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 2 3
Bella Gonzales C 14 2-3 2-2 0 2 0 2 6

Turnovers: 14 (A.Ice 1, J.Freitas 3, A.Boyd 3,
S.Salzman 1, E.Williams 1, A.Woods 1, E.Christensen 2,
C.Gooch 1, S.Watson 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (A.Ice 2, A.Boyd 1, É.Debuisnes 1)
Steals: 9 (J.Freitas 1, A.Boyd 3, S.Salzman 1, A.Woods
1, E.Christensen 2, C.Gooch 1)
3P FGs: 14-31 (J.Freitas 4-5, A.Boyd 2-9, S.Salzman
2-3, E.Williams 2-4, A.Woods 0-2, E.Christensen 2-4,
G.Mullinax 0-1, K.Stroup 0-1, C.Gooch 1-1, É.Debuisnes
1-1)

Player of Game: SG Serenity Salzman (KNTST)



Portland 87, Texas 80


Portland 87, Texas 80

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Portland (29-10, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Sarah Shim C 23 1-3 2-2 3 6 3 1 4
Hayden Gresham PF 26 1-2 0-2 2 5 2 0 2
Josephine August SF 35 8-16 1-2 4 6 4 1 20
Mollie Heffner SG 32 5-12 2-4 0 7 2 2 13
Eva Miller PG 34 10-16 4-4 0 4 6 4 27
India Fowler PG 14 1-2 2-2 0 1 0 2 5
Savannah Franks C 19 2-5 2-2 0 3 0 4 8
Jaiden Soares C 2 1-1 2-2 0 0 0 0 4
Olivia Hall SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Alyssa Devaney PF 14 2-2 0-0 2 4 1 1 4
Elizabeth Matson SG 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 15 (S.Shim 1, J.August 3, M.Heffner 4,
E.Miller 3, I.Fowler 1, S.Franks 2, J.Soares 1)
Blocked Shots: 3 (H.Gresham 2, E.Miller 1)
Steals: 6 (S.Shim 1, J.August 1, M.Heffner 1, E.Miller
3)
3P FGs: 10-24 (J.August 3-5, M.Heffner 1-8, E.Miller
3-7, I.Fowler 1-1, S.Franks 2-3)

Texas (34-2, 18-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Octavio Dominguez C 31 1-5 0-0 4 5 3 3 2
Gabriella Wylie PF 32 6-9 3-4 4 9 1 3 15
Abigail Lapoint SF 27 6-14 0-0 0 5 3 1 12
Ashley Thorton SG 19 3-6 0-0 0 0 1 5 7
Chloe Pemberton PG 33 7-16 2-5 1 6 6 2 19
Chloe Hua PG 28 3-5 2-2 0 3 2 1 8
Sophia Hebert SG 10 2-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 5
Mary Nesbitt PF 10 2-3 0-0 1 2 0 0 4
Isla Dover C 6 3-4 2-2 0 1 0 1 8
Chinwe Madukwe SF 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Elizabeth Robison PF 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 13 (O.Dominguez 3, G.Wylie 3, A.Lapoint 1,
A.Thorton 2, C.Hua 3, I.Dover 1)
Blocked Shots: 7 (O.Dominguez 1, G.Wylie 3, A.Thorton
1, S.Hebert 1, M.Nesbitt 1)
Steals: 7 (G.Wylie 1, A.Lapoint 3, C.Pemberton 1, C.Hua
1, S.Hebert 1)
3P FGs: 5-21 (O.Dominguez 0-1, A.Lapoint 0-4, A.Thorton
1-2, C.Pemberton 3-11, C.Hua 0-2, S.Hebert 1-1)

Player of Game: PG Eva Miller (PORTL)




NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Portland 73, Kent State 57


Portland 73, Kent State 57

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Portland (30-10, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Sarah Shim C 23 1-7 1-2 2 3 0 3 3
Hayden Gresham PF 26 2-2 0-1 0 9 0 3 4
Josephine August SF 30 6-17 0-0 5 8 5 3 15
Mollie Heffner SG 34 4-8 3-3 0 3 5 1 13
Eva Miller PG 35 7-14 2-2 0 4 6 0 22
India Fowler PG 14 0-2 0-0 0 4 1 2 0
Savannah Franks C 18 3-5 0-0 0 3 0 0 7
Jaiden Soares C 2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Olivia Hall SF 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Alyssa Devaney PF 14 2-5 0-0 1 2 0 1 4
Elizabeth Matson SG 1 1-1 1-1 0 0 0 0 3

Turnovers: 11 (S.Shim 1, H.Gresham 2, J.August 1,
M.Heffner 2, E.Miller 2, I.Fowler 2, S.Franks 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (S.Shim 2, E.Miller 1, A.Devaney 1)
Steals: 8 (M.Heffner 2, E.Miller 1, S.Franks 3,
A.Devaney 1, E.Matson 1)
3P FGs: 12-28 (J.August 3-8, M.Heffner 2-5, E.Miller
6-10, I.Fowler 0-2, S.Franks 1-1, O.Hall 0-1,
A.Devaney 0-1)

Kent State (29-9, 12-4):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Abigail Ice C 22 2-6 0-0 3 5 1 0 4
Jennifer Freitas PF 20 1-4 1-2 1 2 0 5 3
Aaliyah Boyd SF 33 3-9 4-5 4 10 2 3 10
Serenity Salzman SG 29 2-6 3-4 3 8 1 0 8
Esther Williams PG 26 2-10 0-0 0 1 2 1 6
Addison Woods PG 22 4-7 2-2 0 1 2 1 13
E. Christensen SF 9 2-6 0-0 0 1 0 1 4
Kylie Stroup SF 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Chloe Gooch SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Stephanie Watson PF 16 1-6 0-0 0 8 0 0 2
Édith Debuisnes PF 8 0-1 0-0 1 2 1 0 0
Bella Gonzales C 10 3-5 0-0 3 6 0 0 7
Mina Pritchett C 4 0-2 0-0 2 2 0 0 0

Turnovers: 16 (A.Ice 2, J.Freitas 2, A.Boyd 2,
S.Salzman 2, E.Williams 1, A.Woods 1, E.Christensen 1,
S.Watson 2, É.Debuisnes 1, B.Gonzales 1, M.Pritchett 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (A.Ice 2, A.Boyd 1, B.Gonzales 1)
Steals: 4 (S.Salzman 1, E.Williams 1, A.Woods 1,
B.Gonzales 1)
3P FGs: 7-22 (J.Freitas 0-1, A.Boyd 0-3, S.Salzman 1-2,
E.Williams 2-6, A.Woods 3-4, E.Christensen 0-3,
B.Gonzales 1-2, M.Pritchett 0-1)

Player of Game: PG Eva Miller (PORTL)




I've been doing this since 1941 in-game and this is easily the most insane final I've ever seen. Had to save the box scores for posterity.

For context, Kent State's starting lineup did have two seniors, but only featured one (***) recruit. The rest were two stars and their best player was actually a one-star senior out of California who MAC All-Conference her senior year. Their starting center was a Yale transfer (**) and their PF was a freshman (**)

Portland plays in the deceptively tough WCC and boasted a conventional-esque roster but did so off the radar. Their best player Eva Miller was a 20 PPG scorer her senior year and averaged 17.1 PPG for her career. A former 4-star player who was Miss Oregon Basketball, I'm wondering how she ended up here. Her running partner was another Oregon senior, a former 5-star player who was All-State and was putting up 16.1 PPG average this season. So when you look more closely, it makes sense that a team with two star players and a decently deep bench -- but nothing as good as what the other teams were throwing at them -- managed to pull one out. But I can assure you if I simmed ten times, this would be the only time this kind of outcome would've happened.

So that's so fun. Also the first team with double-digit losses to win a national title in 34 years. (SMU in 2003)

Teams with double-digit losses to win a national title

1941 Oklahoma Sooners (25-11)
1963 Stanford Cardinal (25-11)
1982 Xavier Musketeers (22-13)
1990 Temple Owls (25-12)
1999 Houston Cougars (27-10)
2003 SMU Mustangs (27-10)
2037 Portland Pilots (30-10)

[Young Drachma]

Muldowney protegee and head coach of Purdue, Aiyana Taylor has been named the new Head Coach at USC. The 33-year old head coach has been shooting through the coaching ranks. She spent the past three years at Purdue after taking UW-Milwaukee to the Sweet 16.

So with that, Coach Muldowney retires with a career record of 1212-199. Or does she?

[Young Drachma]

http://nebraskahuskersfootball.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/TheMediumN.png

After the unexpected retirement of 65-year old Nebraska head coach Victoria Blackwell, the Huskers needed to find a head coach in September and didn't really know where to start. Most of their choices were assistants since it was too late for most head coaches to consider making the jump and with two young assistants, the program didn't feel comfortable elevating either to the Head Coach job even in an interim capacity.

When AD Chris Chriswell made the call to Sue Muldowney to see if she were interested in possibly coaching the Huskers for one season, he didn't expect her to take his call, much less accept the offer. But he felt like it was the right call to make.

"She's the best coach the state has ever seen. A living legend. I thought it might be the swan song she needed to really end her career on her terms, but selfishly, I thought it'd be a way for us to get a title too. If she could win here, man...she could probably be elected Governor. I mean, what are the odds?"

Well, he got his woman. In a move that shocked most of college basketball when it was announced, Sue Muldowney will take over as head coach of the Nebraska Huskers women's basketball team. The term for both is for one year, but no one felt comfortable suggesting that the winningest coach in the history of the game was labeled "interim."

"She can stay here as long as she wants, to be honest. We'll wheel her out. She just told us...ok, one more year. One more year, I can do that."

For her part, Muldowney believed the team had the right components for a title run. "I can honestly say I never thought I'd see the day when I'd wear this shade of red. Never did I imagine this would ever be possible. But when they called, I was out in the backyard working in my garden. My husband had just been teasing me a day earlier about how "you probably left a year too early, huh?" But I was satisfied with my life. I just thought this might be fun. And after 40 years, if I can say that doing it will be fun then you know I can handle another year."

When asked whether she thought it'd be awkward to face her former mates down the road in Kearney, she said no. "I love Kearney and my heart will always be with the Pronghorns. No one would fault me for that, given all we accomplished there. But at the end of the day, I'm a coach. And we're talking about just one year."

One year to pursue the unthinkable -- a tenth championship -- and for the Huskers, a chance to seal their legacy in the state, after being lapped by their little sisters on I-80 who have 8 national championship banners.

"No promises or anything. But it'll be fun to give it one last try."

[Young Drachma]

Here's the roster:


#9 NEBRASKA HUSKERS General

Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thalia Jepson 2 C Sr 6-2 226 Yes 71 OK Chicago, IL
Heather Terry 42 C So 6-1 224 Yes 22 OK Wakeeney, KS
Amy Shepherd 54 PF Sr 5-5 161 Yes 42 OK Menahga, MN
Melody Sanders 50 SF Jr 5-10 193 Yes 49 OK Scotland, SD
Ava Cave 45 PG So 5-4 188 Yes 35 OK Madison, SD
Scarlett Gleeson 34 SF So 6-1 196 Yes 61 OK Cairns, Australia
Madison Burk 30 PF So* 5-4 175 Yes 13 OK Mesquite, TX
Raina Stebbins 44 SG Sr* 5-8 185 No 1 OK Lincoln, NE
Alyssa Morehouse 43 PG Fr* 5-7 161 Yes 50 OK Blue Springs, MO
Chloe Gilstrap 13 SF Fr 6-1 193 Yes 46 OK Chicago, IL
Britney Windle 51 PF So 5-11 209 Yes 70 OK Sioux Falls, SD
Carolyn Knutson 15 C Jr 6-3 227 Yes 59 Unhappy Henrietta, TX
Clare Houston 23 SG Fr 5-10 178 Yes 78 Redshirt Atlantic, IA
Susan Poore 35 SG Fr 5-7 185 No 27 Redshirt Highland Park, IL
Olivia Keele 25 PG Fr 5-7 171 Yes 35 Redshirt Coniston, Canada


Sanders is a projected lottery pick and was a 2nd Team All-American last year. Shepard and Cave are blue chippers who started last year, but were mostly role production players who more will be expected from this season if the Huskers are going to make a deep run.

I made sure not to schedule a game with Nebraska State, the schedule was done and the AI didn't have a game already setup and a new one wasn't put together either. Just figured it would make things less awkward for everyone.

#9 NEBRASKA HUSKERS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/18/38 at Oklahoma 0-0 52
11/28/38 Southern Methodist 0-0 133
12/03/38 at Houston 0-0 129
12/07/38 Kansas 0-0 49
12/09/38 UC Irvine 0-0 112
12/14/38 Drake 0-0 212
12/19/38 Saint Louis 0-0 20
12/21/38 Missouri 0-0 51
12/23/38 Creighton 0-0 211
12/27/38 at #6 Arkansas 0-0 280
12/30/38 at Washburn 0-0 395
01/05/39 at #12 Illinois 0-0 93
01/08/39 at Iowa 0-0 95
01/12/39 #4 Penn State 0-0 102
01/15/39 Michigan 0-0 96
01/19/39 at Ohio State 0-0 101
01/22/39 #12 Illinois 0-0 93
01/26/39 Indiana 0-0 94
01/29/39 Ohio State 0-0 101
02/02/39 at #4 Penn State 0-0 102
02/05/39 at Wisconsin 0-0 104
02/09/39 Michigan State 0-0 97
02/12/39 at Michigan 0-0 96
02/16/39 at Rutgers 0-0 66
02/19/39 #8 Purdue 0-0 103
02/23/39 Minnesota 0-0 98
02/26/39 Iowa 0-0 95
03/02/39 at Northwestern 0-0 100
03/05/39 at #17 Pittsburgh 0-0 64

[Young Drachma]

2038-39 SEASON RECAP


#8 NEBRASKA HUSKERS Averages

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melody Sanders SF 30 30 29.8 23.2 2.2 7.4 2.4 1.3 0.2 2.0 3.1 12.2
Amy Shepherd SG 30 30 30.0 16.4 2.0 4.5 3.9 1.4 0.2 1.6 2.9 13.0
Thalia Jepson C 30 30 30.1 11.7 3.2 7.5 1.5 0.9 2.2 2.1 2.4 12.5
Scarlett Gleeson SF 30 0 14.4 8.6 0.8 2.7 1.3 0.3 0.1 1.0 1.3 3.9
Ava Cave PG 30 30 29.1 8.4 0.8 3.8 6.8 0.6 0.3 2.8 2.2 13.4
Heather Terry PF 30 30 28.5 7.6 2.3 8.2 1.6 1.0 1.3 1.3 2.4 13.8
Madison Burk PF 30 0 15.2 5.4 0.7 2.7 1.1 0.4 0.1 0.7 1.6 4.8
Raina Stebbins SG 30 0 8.4 2.7 0.3 1.1 0.6 0.7 0.0 0.6 0.7 0.3
Chloe Gilstrap SF 24 0 2.3 1.1 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.4
Alyssa Morehouse C 30 0 7.9 1.0 0.3 0.9 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.5 0.9 1.0
Britney Windle PF 29 0 3.6 1.0 0.3 1.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.0
Carolyn Knutson C 16 0 1.9 0.6 0.1 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 -0.1
Olivia Keele PG 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Clare Houston SG 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Susan Poore SG 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0



Here's how the regular season went down for the Huskers.

#8 NEBRASKA HUSKERS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/18/38 at Oklahoma 6-24 293 W 77-63 1-0
11/28/38 Southern Methodist 23-9 19 W 89-64 2-0
12/03/38 at Houston 20-12 28 W 72-70 3-0
12/07/38 Kansas 12-18 179 W 87-62 4-0
12/09/38 UC Irvine 16-15 157 W 95-55 5-0
12/14/38 Drake 24-7 45 W 96-55 6-0
12/19/38 #19 Saint Louis 29-6 22 W 89-63 7-0
12/21/38 Missouri 8-23 235 W 78-67 8-0
12/23/38 #20 Creighton 26-6 58 W 98-97 9-0
12/27/38 at #24 Arkansas 22-9 29 L 80-77 9-1
12/30/38 at Washburn 8-23 390 W 85-54 10-1
01/05/39 at #16 Illinois 24-8 9 W 96-90 11-1 (1-0)
01/08/39 at Iowa 6-26 264 W 92-80 12-1 (2-0)
01/12/39 #3 Penn State 29-4 6 W 88-72 13-1 (3-0)
01/15/39 Michigan 7-23 244 W 100-74 14-1 (4-0)
01/19/39 at Ohio State 21-11 17 W 101-70 15-1 (5-0)
01/22/39 #16 Illinois 24-8 9 W 91-77 16-1 (6-0)
01/26/39 Indiana 17-15 103 W 85-70 17-1 (7-0)
01/29/39 Ohio State 21-11 17 W 78-69 18-1 (8-0)
02/02/39 at #3 Penn State 29-4 6 L 81-77 18-2 (8-1)
02/05/39 at Wisconsin 16-14 95 W 101-78 19-2 (9-1)
02/09/39 Michigan State 9-21 174 W 104-61 20-2 (10-1)
02/12/39 at Michigan 7-23 244 W 82-46 21-2 (11-1)
02/16/39 at Rutgers 11-19 143 W 72-67 22-2 (12-1)
02/19/39 #9 Purdue 25-6 32 L 81-75 22-3 (12-2)
02/23/39 Minnesota 21-11 26 W 90-64 23-3 (13-2)
02/26/39 Iowa 6-26 264 W 99-86 24-3 (14-2)
03/02/39 at Northwestern 13-17 128 L 93-81 24-4 (14-3)
03/05/39 at #1 Pittsburgh 32-2 16 W 94-80 25-4 (15-3)
03/11/39 vs. Minnesota 21-11 26 L 98-67 25-5




Nebraska is the #1 seed in the Midwest Region. Nebraska State (29-5) nabbed the #3 seed in the Midwest Region setting up a potential Elite 8 matchup between the two.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
1st Round:
3) Nebraska State 85, Alcorn State 53
1) Nebraska 78, North Florida 48

2nd Round:
3) Nebraska State 80, 6) San Francisco 61
1) Nebraska 75, 8) Virginia Tech 59
Defending national champs Portland made it back, as a #3 seed in the West region, but fell in the 2nd round. So did USC, who lost to UConn.

Sweet 16:
2) Iowa State 93, Nebraska State 84
1) Nebraska 81, 4) West Virginia 74

Elite 8:
1) Nebraska 100 2) Iowa State 97

For the 15th time, Sue Muldowney is going to the Final Four. And this time with her 3rd program. I have no idea if any other coach in-game has done that.

[Young Drachma]

Sue Muldowney's last Final Four

1) Purdue 4) Duke 1) Nebraska 7) Arkansas

Purdue is four years removed from a title, Duke last won one six years ago and Arkansas is just two years from their first title in school history.

That leaves the Huskers who are still on the schneid having never won a title despite being perpetually good for about 40 years now. Just can't get over the hump for whatever reason.

Is this the year it all changes? Will Sue Muldowney win her 10th title or will her career end with another loss in the Final Four, while still having restored her legacy as the greatest coach Nebraska basketball period has ever and will ever know?

This is her 40th and final season.

FINAL FOUR

Nebraska 85, Arkansas 82

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arkansas (26-10, 10-6):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Samantha Reeves C 28 9-12 3-6 1 10 0 4 21
Melissa Telford PF 35 1-6 3-4 4 12 1 3 5
Madeline Poisson SF 25 2-6 0-0 0 4 1 3 5
Heidi Beck SG 28 1-7 2-3 0 4 2 2 4
Esme Anderson PG 34 7-16 0-1 4 6 6 3 16
Clarissa Powe PG 18 3-6 4-4 0 0 5 1 12
Kayla Peel PG 6 2-4 2-3 2 2 0 2 7
Jenna Melcher SF 10 2-4 0-0 0 1 2 0 4
Libby Norvell C 11 1-2 0-0 0 4 0 3 3
Ella Mallard PF 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 2
Olivia Quarles SF 1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3

Turnovers: 15 (M.Telford 4, M.Poisson 1, H.Beck 2,
E.Anderson 5, C.Powe 2, L.Norvell 1)
Blocked Shots: 6 (S.Reeves 1, M.Telford 4, C.Powe 1)
Steals: 3 (E.Anderson 1, J.Melcher 1, E.Mallard 1)
3P FGs: 8-24 (M.Telford 0-2, M.Poisson 1-2, H.Beck 0-4,
E.Anderson 2-7, C.Powe 2-3, K.Peel 1-3, J.Melcher 0-1,
L.Norvell 1-1, O.Quarles 1-1)

Nebraska (30-5, 15-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Thalia Jepson C 31 5-12 2-8 3 12 3 0 12
Heather Terry PF 11 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 4 4
Amy Shepherd PG 37 5-12 7-8 3 7 3 4 21
Melody Sanders SF 31 8-16 1-3 1 8 0 4 22
Ava Cave PG 18 0-3 2-4 0 1 7 4 2
Scarlett Gleeson SG 15 1-8 1-2 0 4 0 1 4
Madison Burk PF 18 2-5 0-0 2 4 1 2 4
Raina Stebbins SG 12 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 2
Alyssa Morehouse PF 13 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 2 0
Chloe Gilstrap SF 7 3-4 0-0 0 0 0 1 8
Britney Windle PF 4 1-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 2
Carolyn Knutson C 3 2-3 0-0 1 2 0 0 4

Turnovers: 11 (T.Jepson 2, H.Terry 1, M.Sanders 4,
A.Cave 2, M.Burk 1, R.Stebbins 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (H.Terry 1, S.Gleeson 1, M.Burk 1,
C.Knutson 1)
Steals: 7 (H.Terry 1, A.Shepherd 2, M.Sanders 1, M.Burk
1, A.Morehouse 1, C.Knutson 1)
3P FGs: 12-33 (T.Jepson 0-3, A.Shepherd 4-10, M.Sanders
5-10, A.Cave 0-2, S.Gleeson 1-6, C.Gilstrap 2-2)

Player of Game: SG Amy Shepherd (NEB)



In the final, Coach Muldowney takes on Chaya Bergin, who was an assistant under her at Nebraska State. They two have never met in a Final, but Bergin so far remains the only Muldowney former assistant to ever win a national title. Can she steal #10 away from her mentor on her road to her second career national title? Bergin just a year younger than Muldowney, so one wonders how many more she has in her too.


Nebraska 88, Duke 81

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nebraska (31-5, 15-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Thalia Jepson C 33 2-7 2-6 3 8 2 1 7
Heather Terry PF 22 0-2 2-2 0 4 1 5 2
Amy Shepherd SF 36 11-19 1-2 3 4 1 2 29
Melody Sanders SG 33 9-18 4-4 3 6 2 0 26
Ava Cave PG 33 1-6 8-12 1 5 6 3 11
Scarlett Gleeson SG 11 0-1 3-4 1 4 1 2 3
Madison Burk PF 16 1-2 1-2 0 2 0 2 3
Raina Stebbins SG 6 1-1 3-4 0 1 0 0 6
Alyssa Morehouse PF 7 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Britney Windle PF 2 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1
Carolyn Knutson C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 7 (T.Jepson 1, A.Cave 3, S.Gleeson 1, M.Burk
1, C.Knutson 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (T.Jepson 2)
Steals: 7 (H.Terry 1, A.Shepherd 1, M.Sanders 2, A.Cave
1, S.Gleeson 2)
3P FGs: 13-30 (T.Jepson 1-3, H.Terry 0-1, A.Shepherd
6-10, M.Sanders 4-10, A.Cave 1-5, R.Stebbins 1-1)

Duke (36-4, 14-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Addison Maki C 31 2-3 1-2 2 4 3 4 5
Taylor Odum PF 34 1-3 1-2 4 15 1 3 3
Addison Hancock SF 24 6-12 0-0 4 6 0 1 12
Callie Hannan SG 23 3-9 0-2 3 6 1 5 7
Siena Williams PG 28 4-12 0-0 1 3 6 5 10
Olivia Moxley SF 26 12-21 5-8 1 6 2 2 31
Ava Pugliese PG 13 3-6 0-0 0 0 1 4 8
Aniyah Nowlin SG 3 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 3 5
Lillian Boddie PF 9 0-0 0-0 2 6 0 1 0
Myla Strand PF 2 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 0 0
Penelope Tobar SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Taylor Kissinger C 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 15 (A.Maki 1, T.Odum 1, A.Hancock 3,
C.Hannan 4, S.Williams 3, O.Moxley 1, A.Pugliese 2)
Blocked Shots: 2 (T.Odum 2)
Steals: 3 (A.Maki 1, C.Hannan 1, O.Moxley 1)
3P FGs: 8-25 (A.Maki 0-1, C.Hannan 1-6, S.Williams 2-7,
O.Moxley 2-5, A.Pugliese 2-4, A.Nowlin 1-2)

Player of Game: SF Melody Sanders (NEB)



The 10th title is complete and Nebraska is completely bleeding red today. Sue Muldowney has just done what no one prior to her had been able to do. She got the Huskers a national championship.

And with that...caps a crowning achievement on a career without parallel.

[SkippyDies]

So thats it?

[Young Drachma]

Sue Muldowney ran for Lt. Governor on the heels of that successful season leading Nebraska to the national championship. After four years in that role, she retired for good.

At age 69, life is good for her. She's alive and well and doing great.

You can see on the first page, the results of things since she's retired which include titles for Towson (finally, after rising a few decades ago) and Hofstra out of the CAA also laid claim to their first title, as did Illinois after years of being pretty bad in the Big Ten.

Alyssa Duty coached her alma mater for 9 years. After the 2043-44 season, she took over at Penn State saying that she "needed to stake out a claim on her own legacy." She took the Nittany Lions to the Final of the NCAAs the following year and remains there as head coach.

Former South Carolina assistant Natalie Stebbins, a longtime head coach took over for one season before retiring. She was replaced by UConn head coach and Nebraska State alumna Juliette Chaplin who just finished her 2nd season. The program has missed the tournament three straight years in a row.

The best alumna is still Aiyana Taylor who remains at USC and has been to 3 Final Fours with that program including a loss in the national title game.

[Young Drachma]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Bea_Arthur_87.jpg/220px-Bea_Arthur_87.jpg

Sue Muldowney enjoyed a career beyond parallel of any coach in college sports. At age 69, she certainly had no designs on returning to the game. But a feature in the Los Angeles Times brought her back into the public consciousness as a coach and then the calls began coming in again.

Most were from well wishers hoping her career was going well. But one specific call was from a university official wondering a specific question:

"Have you ever been to Miami?"

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0in244FNk8E?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_ucf/files/2011/09/FIU-logo.jpg

Florida International has made the NCAAs just three times in their history (1991, 2012 & 2044) the fewest of any team in the Sun Belt Conference. The program began talks to bring Sue Muldowney out of retirement. They thought they had the wherewithal to do it too.

At the last minute, the program's offer was pulled due to lack of support from alumni to pull the deal off.

But at that point, Sue Muldowney had resolved herself that she would get back on the bench someplace. She knew she wanted to go somewhere that would not be heralded. Someplace that she could go and be a coach first, mold young minds and not have to worry about trying to delude fans into believing they'd ever reach the pinnacles that she'd reach as a ten-time national championship winning coach.

She set her sights on...Texas. But away from hustle and bustle of the biggest programs in the state. No, instead she decided to accept an offer from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to be their women's head coach.

http://images.wikia.com/nba/images/9/9c/Texas_A%26M_Corpus_Christi.jpg


TEXAS A&M-CC TEAM PERFORMANCE

Season Team W L CW CL Rank RPI PRS Result
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2045 Texas A&M-CC 7 22 5 15 378 381 10 No Postseason
2044 Texas A&M-CC 8 21 5 15 360 388 11 No Postseason
2043 Texas A&M-CC 9 20 7 13 360 354 12 No Postseason
2042 Texas A&M-CC 6 23 5 15 387 374 10 No Postseason
2041 Texas A&M-CC 4 26 2 12 399 398 9 No Postseason
2040 Texas A&M-CC 6 24 3 11 388 386 9 No Postseason
2039 Texas A&M-CC 9 21 5 9 350 385 11 No Postseason
2038 Texas A&M-CC 6 23 4 10 385 384 13 No Postseason
2037 Texas A&M-CC 2 27 0 14 399 399 15 No Postseason
2036 Texas A&M-CC 4 25 3 11 394 398 16 No Postseason
2035 Texas A&M-CC 6 24 4 10 388 396 16 No Postseason
2034 Texas A&M-CC 10 19 4 10 316 317 16 No Postseason
2033 Texas A&M-CC 10 21 4 10 339 249 19 No Postseason
2032 Texas A&M-CC 12 18 6 8 277 331 20 No Postseason
2031 Texas A&M-CC 8 24 4 10 370 311 22 No Postseason
2030 Texas A&M-CC 13 19 8 6 283 312 21 No Postseason
2029 Texas A&M-CC 10 20 5 9 331 299 18 No Postseason
2028 Texas A&M-CC 8 22 5 9 355 342 15 No Postseason
2027 Texas A&M-CC 12 18 5 9 328 301 16 No Postseason
2026 Texas A&M-CC 15 15 6 8 216 193 18 No Postseason
2025 Texas A&M-CC 14 16 11 3 219 202 17 No Postseason
2024 Texas A&M-CC 14 16 7 7 219 253 14 No Postseason
2023 Texas A&M-CC 6 24 3 11 382 386 13 No Postseason
2022 Texas A&M-CC 13 18 6 8 272 296 15 No Postseason
2021 Texas A&M-CC 12 18 8 6 289 353 15 No Postseason
2020 Texas A&M-CC 11 19 6 8 304 289 14 No Postseason
2019 Texas A&M-CC 10 21 6 8 342 335 14 No Postseason
2018 Texas A&M-CC 14 17 6 8 228 295 16 No Postseason
2017 Texas A&M-CC 16 16 7 7 186 263 18 No Postseason
2016 Texas A&M-CC 15 15 7 7 199 321 18 No Postseason
2015 Texas A&M-CC 8 22 5 9 354 380 21 No Postseason
2014 Texas A&M-CC 10 20 5 9 332 348 24 No Postseason
2013 Texas A&M-CC 14 18 7 7 263 317 28 No Postseason
2012 Texas A&M-CC 16 16 6 8 186 268 32 No Postseason
2011 Texas A&M-CC 12 18 8 6 287 318 35 No Postseason
2010 Texas A&M-CC 11 19 8 6 297 316 38 No Postseason
2009 Texas A&M-CC 13 17 7 7 288 239 36 No Postseason
2008 Texas A&M-CC 16 14 9 5 162 281 37 No Postseason
2007 Texas A&M-CC 22 13 9 5 99 149 33 Loss in A4 Round 3
2006 Texas A&M-CC 12 18 7 7 315 368 28 No Postseason
2005 Texas A&M-CC 11 21 5 9 365 331 26 No Postseason
2004 Texas A&M-CC 16 16 7 7 271 146 25 No Postseason
2003 Texas A&M-CC 23 10 10 4 98 194 23 Loss in NCAA Round 1
2002 Texas A&M-CC 20 12 10 4 101 136 16 Loss in A4 Round 2
2001 Texas A&M-CC 8 23 5 9 366 373 12 No Postseason
2000 Texas A&M-CC 11 20 6 8 321 353 14 No Postseason
1999 Texas A&M-CC 9 21 7 7 355 310 14 No Postseason
1998 Texas A&M-CC 9 21 6 8 351 380 14 No Postseason
1997 Texas A&M-CC 12 18 8 6 295 313 17 No Postseason
1996 Texas A&M-CC 14 18 4 10 301 197 17 No Postseason
1995 Texas A&M-CC 9 21 6 8 375 351 19 No Postseason
1994 Texas A&M-CC 8 23 2 12 381 386 22 No Postseason
1993 Texas A&M-CC 10 20 3 11 308 296 27 No Postseason
1992 Texas A&M-CC 15 14 9 5 219 224 32 No Postseason
1991 Texas A&M-CC 13 16 8 6 293 359 31 No Postseason
1990 Texas A&M-CC 15 14 6 8 230 204 34 No Postseason
1989 Texas A&M-CC 13 16 9 5 270 238 35 No Postseason
1988 Texas A&M-CC 15 14 6 8 186 218 32 No Postseason
1987 Texas A&M-CC 14 15 8 6 161 187 29 No Postseason
1986 Texas A&M-CC 19 11 10 4 65 46 26 A1 Tournament Play-in Game
1985 Texas A&M-CC 19 12 10 4 147 133 24 Loss in A4 Round 2
1984 Texas A&M-CC 13 16 5 9 216 202 20 No Postseason
1983 Texas A&M-CC 8 21 3 11 376 378 20 No Postseason
1982 Texas A&M-CC 13 16 6 8 264 317 22 No Postseason
1981 Texas A&M-CC 11 18 7 7 323 294 21 No Postseason
1980 Texas A&M-CC 13 16 7 7 297 252 19 No Postseason
1979 Texas A&M-CC 16 13 8 6 164 246 21 No Postseason
1978 Texas A&M-CC 14 15 6 8 229 324 23 No Postseason
1977 Texas A&M-CC 13 16 8 6 296 349 26 No Postseason
1976 Texas A&M-CC 16 13 6 8 227 237 30 No Postseason
1975 Texas A&M-CC 18 11 6 8 121 266 33 No Postseason
1974 Texas A&M-CC 17 12 10 4 132 179 39 No Postseason
1973 Texas A&M-CC 13 16 10 4 301 307 38 No Postseason
1972 Texas A&M-CC 17 14 7 7 179 197 38 Loss in D3 Round 2
1971 Texas A&M-CC 13 16 6 8 241 292 38 No Postseason
1970 Texas A&M-CC 14 16 7 7 214 286 39 No Postseason
1969 Texas A&M-CC 18 14 7 7 119 151 41 Loss in D2 Round 1
1968 Texas A&M-CC 15 15 8 6 185 268 42 No Postseason
1967 Texas A&M-CC 15 16 6 8 189 227 40 No Postseason
1966 Texas A&M-CC 11 19 3 11 156 149 40 No Postseason
1965 Texas A&M-CC 6 25 1 13 358 340 42 No Postseason
1964 Texas A&M-CC 12 18 5 9 240 176 40 No Postseason
1963 Texas A&M-CC 8 22 4 10 348 340 33 No Postseason
1962 Texas A&M-CC 12 18 6 8 229 270 29 No Postseason
1961 Texas A&M-CC 10 20 3 11 265 286 30 No Postseason
1960 Texas A&M-CC 13 17 4 10 243 224 33 No Postseason
1959 Texas A&M-CC 17 16 7 7 226 156 34 No Postseason
1958 Texas A&M-CC 16 14 8 6 132 146 32 No Postseason
1957 Texas A&M-CC 14 17 8 6 248 267 29 No Postseason
1956 Texas A&M-CC 19 15 7 7 192 172 26 Loss in ACAA Tourney Round 1
1955 Texas A&M-CC 15 15 6 8 212 263 21 No Postseason
1954 Texas A&M-CC 13 18 5 9 296 325 23 No Postseason
1953 Texas A&M-CC 16 16 6 8 224 208 27 No Postseason
1952 Texas A&M-CC 14 18 6 8 285 301 26 No Postseason
1951 Texas A&M-CC 16 17 5 9 245 207 25 No Postseason
1950 Texas A&M-CC 13 18 6 8 264 227 25 No Postseason
1949 Texas A&M-CC 10 20 5 9 314 257 23 No Postseason
1948 Texas A&M-CC 10 20 7 7 292 302 23 No Postseason
1947 Texas A&M-CC 15 15 9 5 202 170 21 No Postseason
1946 Texas A&M-CC 17 14 9 5 198 223 18 No Postseason
1945 Texas A&M-CC 16 14 9 5 142 151 15 No Postseason
1944 Texas A&M-CC 14 16 6 8 270 261 11 No Postseason
1943 Texas A&M-CC 12 20 8 6 298 279 11 No Postseason
1942 Texas A&M-CC 7 22 4 10 316 330 8 No Postseason
1941 Texas A&M-CC 9 20 4 10 286 280 10 No Postseason



To be clear, this program has made a total of 8 post-season appearances in school history and of those, just three were in the NCAA tournament. The last of those came 42 years ago (2003) which by then Nebraska State had already won a national championship.

The last time they logged double-digit wins was 12 years ago. But two things happened that brought the best coach in the history of the game to South Texas. For one, her son moved here to take over the men's program. The second thing? A Nebraska State alumnus and former student manager during the Sue Charles/Muldowney era took over as athletic director three years ago and is trying to turn the entire program around.

But were it not for her two grandchildren, it's doubtful that she'd be considering prowling the sidelines at a new school after not coaching for seven years and having a very active post-coaching career.

"I always told my girls that you're never done until you want to be done. And it turns out, that I wasn't done. I'm excited to see what we can do."

TAMU-CC has a budget of $177,500 which is smaller than what we've paid assistants at Nebraska State or anywhere else she's been. So that's going to be prove it impossible to hire any former Nebraska State assistants since we won't be able to afford them.

The initial goal? Just get through the season and schedule the easiest non-conference in history to just survive a year. The last winning season the program had was in 2008. In case you haven't noticed, that was nearly 40 years ago.

So how will this end? Will a legendary coach find she can't reach today's players? Will this be ruining her legacy?

We're about to find out.

[Young Drachma]

TAMU-CC plays in the Southland Conference with a bunch of schools you've barely heard of. Though I did move UTEP to this conference apparently, not that they've done anything notable in-game either.

Here's the incoming roster, which includes no gift transfers.


TEXAS A&M-CC ISLANDERS Offense

Player Pos Ht Wt Yr Ins Jps Fts 3ps Hnd Pas Reb Qkn Str Jmp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aryiola Gonzalez PF 6-1 252 Jr 57 20 47 51 19 35 45 43 72 41
Milagros Hernandez SF 6-2 206 Jr 20 28 48 63 48 28 28 45 66 47
Lilah Salvador SG 5-8 172 So 56 33 46 45 34 42 33 83 57 80
Chalina Merino PG 5-6 168 Sr 19 58 43 45 49 27 10 81 34 55
Thalia Rife PG 5-2 165 Sr 43 28 50 34 54 53 7 87 48 51
Rihanna Pettway SG 5-7 183 Sr* 7 42 25 44 58 67 23 68 37 100
Heidi Balcom PG 5-8 164 So 22 34 39 43 44 21 33 79 42 72
Annika Burch SG 5-8 182 Fr 27 35 56 30 40 48 34 62 39 82
Samantha Kantor SG 5-7 191 Jr* 35 45 33 40 21 39 44 69 36 74
Brooklyn Cullen PF 6-1 234 So 50 49 36 19 44 29 25 28 66 43
Neves Saez PF 6-3 212 Jr* 47 49 36 0 43 38 66 28 67 37
Sharon Mason SF 5-11 230 Fr* 23 15 28 38 25 17 28 65 48 53
Aryiola Serrano C 6-3 208 So 15 32 32 0 13 9 33 30 76 29


Salvador is the best player, she's a former 3-star recruit and put up 10.1 PPG last year as a season average. Not sure what's going to be like to recruit at a program like this, because we have no money and our staff isn't really good enough to bring anyone of note in. I hope the coach's skill in these areas will outweigh, but I've never been especially clear on how much it factors in.

Due to the lack of funds, this will be nothing like the days of yore where we jetsetted for international players no one else wanted. It'll be sticking close to the region and finding those diamonds in the rough and I'm going to heavily rely on HS statistics as I feel like they make it easier to identify what a player might be able to do in college.

We're not exactly sure how long Coach Muldowney expects to prowl the sidelines at TAMU-CC or how long before she'll get frustrated with what are to be inevitable amounts of losses. She never had a losing season in her career through now and her worst year was in 2019 when the Pronghorns went 17-14 and missed the post-season completely.

[Young Drachma]

2046-47 TAMU-CC Schedule

So here's the schedule upcoming this year. The idea was to make it as painless as possible, but I imagine it'll be a year full of lumps. No alterations were done to the club and there's no shenanigans or easter eggs anywhere including in recruiting. Really just curious to see what a great coach can do with no recruiting budget, subpar assistants, no prestige in a bad conference.


TEXAS A&M-CC ISLANDERS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/18/46 CSU-Castle Rock 0-0 354
11/22/46 at Missouri S&T 0-0 365
11/24/46 Emory 0-0 349
11/28/46 at Brown 0-0 159
12/02/46 at Northern Kentucky 0-0 356
12/09/46 at Eastern Illinois 0-0 243
12/14/46 at Rutgers-Newark 0-0 369
12/19/46 at Stephen F. Austin 0-0 303
12/27/46 at Nebraska-Omaha 0-0 179
12/29/46 Tarleton State 0-0 398
01/02/47 UTEP 0-0 138
01/05/47 Central Arkansas 0-0 296
01/09/47 Texas-Arlington 0-0 305
01/12/47 at Nicholls State 0-0 299
01/16/47 Northwestern State 0-0 300
01/19/47 at Houston Baptist 0-0 145
01/23/47 at Tarleton State 0-0 398
01/26/47 Cal State Bakersfield 0-0 139
01/30/47 Nicholls State 0-0 299
02/02/47 at Texas-Arlington 0-0 305
02/06/47 at Sam Houston State 0-0 301
02/09/47 Houston Baptist 0-0 145
02/13/47 Southeastern Louisiana 0-0 302
02/16/47 at McNeese State 0-0 298
02/20/47 Lamar 0-0 297
02/23/47 at Central Arkansas 0-0 296
02/27/47 Stephen F. Austin 0-0 303
03/02/47 at Northwestern State 0-0 300
03/06/47 at UTEP 0-0 138

[Young Drachma]

Again, nothing has been altered. But a crazy situation is occurring in Corpus Christi, as the lady with grandkids and her team of scrappy players are turning heads in the Southland Conference. They went 8-1 in January, sport a 14-5 record heading into February, making one believe that the ladies of TAMU-CC are headed towards the program's first winning season since 2008.

Which is completely insane, when you consider how bad they've been prior to the arrival of Coach Muldowney.

Playing in a one-bid league, there will be no way to get into the NCAAs without winning the conference, but a regular season title would be enough to get into the WNIT, which after decades of no post-season appearances would be HUGE.

If nothing else, you can tell that a good coach can change the program a lot for a school at this level, probably because they never get coaches down here who stay, which I hadn't really considered.

A lot of basketball ahead of us though, so let's not get carried away.

[Young Drachma]

By the standards of Sue Muldowney, this season is probably nothing to herald. But given how had this team was, given she had not had any hand in recruiting anyone on the current roster and the financial challenges associated with the job no one would've faulted the old champion coach for diminished expectations with this program she'd taken over almost sight unseen thanks to a few friends who told her things were changing at the branch campus by the sea.

One of the things I forgot, is that during her hiatus, I turned off conference tournaments in all but the top leagues. The idea behind that the best teams of each conference would generally be represented and putting more emphasis on the regular season since I'm not playing with fake dollars.

Unfortunately, that means TAMU-CC won't get a chance to perform the surgical upset in the post-season and instead, will have to pray for a WNIT bid.



2046 Southland Conference Standings

TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions 18 2 .900 22 6 .786 35 27
Lamar Lady Cardinals 15 5 .750 20 9 .690 72 32
Texas A&M-CC Islanders 14 6 .700 19 10 .655 131 10
Sam Houston State Bearkats 12 8 .600 18 11 .621 79 25
Tarleton State Texans 10 10 .500 18 11 .621 127 24
Texas-Arlington Mavericks 10 10 .500 17 12 .586 179 34
Central Arkansas Sugar Bears 10 10 .500 13 16 .448 192 29
Houston Baptist Huskies 9 11 .450 17 12 .586 175 39
Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks 8 12 .400 9 20 .310 174 26
McNeese State Cowgirls 8 12 .400 12 17 .414 215 22
Nicholls State Colonels 7 13 .350 10 19 .345 348 26
Northwestern State Lady Demons 5 15 .250 8 21 .276 362 32
UTEP Miners 4 16 .200 7 22 .241 321 23


Still, recognize that 19 wins is just 4 wins away from the school record set back in 2003, the last time the team made the NCAAs. While that won't be repeated this year, losing three seniors and none of whom were star players (though one is a key producer) and replacing them with a solid recruiting class ought to help a lot.


TEXAS A&M-CC ISLANDERS Averages

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lilah Salvador PF 29 29 27.3 13.3 1.8 4.0 1.7 0.7 0.3 1.9 2.9 5.8
Thalia Rife SF 29 29 27.0 12.0 0.9 3.4 2.1 1.9 0.3 1.9 2.9 5.4
Chalina Merino SG 29 29 29.4 11.1 0.6 4.2 2.5 2.0 0.1 2.0 2.6 5.5
Aryiola Gonzalez C 29 29 23.0 8.6 1.9 5.2 0.8 0.4 0.3 1.3 2.6 7.4
Milagros Hernandez PF 29 29 26.5 6.5 1.2 5.6 1.2 0.5 0.5 1.2 2.4 4.9
Heidi Balcom PG 29 0 17.0 6.0 0.5 2.2 1.2 0.7 0.1 1.3 1.3 2.0
Rihanna Pettway PF 29 0 23.1 4.5 1.2 3.8 2.3 0.6 0.1 1.5 3.4 2.9
Samantha Kantor SF 28 0 11.3 3.8 0.6 1.4 0.8 0.5 0.1 0.8 1.3 1.7
Annika Burch SG 29 0 6.5 2.7 0.5 1.7 0.6 0.2 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.5
Aryiola Serrano C 29 0 7.0 2.1 0.7 2.5 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.8 -0.6
Brooklyn Cullen PF 29 0 4.0 1.1 0.3 0.6 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.2
Neves Saez PF 5 0 2.4 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 -1.0
Sharon Mason SF 6 0 1.2 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3


The recruits include two 3-star players who again seem to be helped by the influence of a strong head coach. Both can score and ought to be able to step in and help Lilah Salvador impact things from Day One.

With the brackets now released, we have indeed made the WNIT, the school's first postseason appearance since 2007. A huge coup for the program and while we were apparently one of the last teams into that tournament, it's even more remarkable that it happened. The Southland had 4 teams in the WNIT field, so we entered as a 10th seed.

2046 WNIT
1st round: Xavier (18-11) L, 58-72

With that loss, the season ends at 19-11 for the Islanders. But it'd be hard to qualify this season as anything other than a huge, huge success for the coach and her squad.

[Young Drachma]

The Islanders missed the post-season this year, after going 9-11 in the Southland and 16-13 overall on the year. I eliminated the 3rd and 4th tournaments for the time being or else, we'd be in one of those. I might bring them back eventually.


TEXAS A&M-CC ISLANDERS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/17/47 at Seton Hall 7-22 379 L 71-57 0-1
11/28/47 at Scottsbluff State 4-25 399 W 79-69 1-1
12/01/47 at Pennsylvania 8-21 291 W 70-62 2-1
12/04/47 at Western Washington 15-19 376 W 69-53 3-1
12/07/47 Kansas 13-16 97 L 80-72 3-2
12/09/47 Wyoming State 14-17 215 W 62-54 4-2
12/14/47 at Wyoming Poly 8-21 396 W 77-65 5-2
12/18/47 Northwestern State 14-15 344 W 69-62 6-2 (1-0)
12/21/47 at Ball State 20-9 93 W 74-60 7-2
12/25/47 Houston Baptist 16-13 217 L 71-68 7-3 (1-1)
12/28/47 at Central Arkansas 13-16 216 W 86-54 8-3 (2-1)
01/01/48 UTEP 16-13 167 W 71-62 9-3 (3-1)
01/04/48 at Tarleton State 24-5 67 L 79-62 9-4 (3-2)
01/08/48 at UTEP 16-13 167 L 87-72 9-5 (3-3)
01/11/48 at Texas-Arlington 14-14 171 L 81-78 9-6 (3-4)
01/15/48 McNeese State 7-22 383 L 72-67 9-7 (3-5)
01/18/48 at Stephen F. Austin 3-26 395 W 63-46 10-7 (4-5)
01/22/48 Texas-Arlington 14-14 171 L 73-67 10-8 (4-6)
01/26/48 Alabama-Huntsville 10-22 375 W 69-52 11-8
01/29/48 at Houston Baptist 16-13 217 L 84-62 11-9 (4-7)
02/01/48 Sam Houston State 18-11 86 L 69-68 11-10 (4-8)
02/05/48 at McNeese State 7-22 383 W 68-59 12-10 (5-8)
02/08/48 at Southeastern Louisiana 19-10 160 W 77-75 13-10 (6-8)
02/12/48 at Lamar 9-20 318 W 75-57 14-10 (7-8)
02/15/48 Stephen F. Austin 3-26 395 L 77-64 14-11 (7-9)
02/19/48 at Northwestern State 14-15 344 W 77-69 15-11 (8-9)
02/22/48 Tarleton State 24-5 67 L 82-54 15-12 (8-10)
02/29/48 Central Arkansas 13-16 216 L 87-79 15-13 (8-11)
03/04/48 Nicholls State 8-21 389 W 80-69 16-13 (9-11)





TEXAS A&M-CC ISLANDERS Averages

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lilah Salvador PG 29 29 33.8 17.4 2.3 4.8 2.4 0.9 0.4 2.9 2.4 3.6
Milagros Hernandez SF 29 29 31.6 11.5 2.3 8.1 2.2 0.8 0.9 1.6 2.3 2.0
Heidi Balcom SG 29 20 31.2 9.3 1.8 4.9 1.8 0.9 0.2 2.0 2.9 2.8
Aryiola Gonzalez PF 29 29 29.4 11.5 2.9 6.1 1.6 0.6 0.4 1.4 2.9 2.0
Aryiola Serrano C 29 29 27.7 4.1 2.1 7.6 1.5 0.2 0.3 1.7 2.8 1.6
Annika Burch PG 29 0 16.1 4.3 1.0 3.3 1.8 0.3 0.2 1.7 1.4 -0.1
Karlie Smith PF 29 9 11.3 5.4 0.5 1.7 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.8 1.2 -0.3
Adrienne Bland PG 29 0 7.6 3.0 0.2 0.7 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.4 0.6 -1.5
Samantha Kantor SF 29 0 7.4 2.2 0.4 1.3 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.6 0.7 -1.1
Brooklyn Cullen PF 29 0 4.8 1.5 0.2 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1
Sharon Mason SF 2 0 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -3.5
Neves Saez PF 3 0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -0.7
Serenity Irvine PF 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0


With a stronger than average (for this program) recruiting class incoming, including three (***) prospects and two (**) which we hope to augment with a transfer, coupled with Lilah Salvador coming back for her senior year, next season will be the school's best chance to match their best season ever. Our recruiting class was 166th in the nation and 2nd in the Southland Conference.

We'll see how it goes.

[Young Drachma]

Sue Muldowney said she felt "as good as she ever has" but after a third season at TAMU-CC, the losses piled up more than she was accustomed. We tried to schedule competitive in the non-conference, to give these ladies a chance to really appreciate what it's like to play on a high level.

They went 1-5 through November and things didn't improve until the conference schedule. Luckily for the Islanders, the conference tournaments were brought back, allowing most teams that finished in the Top 8 of most leagues (in some, it was Top 6 and a few like the Ivy and UAA still don't have them) to participate in a conference tournament.

Ultimately, they ended the regular season 13-18, worse than anyone anticipated probably due to how other teams had also improved and outside of the Southland Conference Top 8, meaning no postseason play for the 2nd straight year.

When asked whether or not this would be her last season, Coach Muldowney was resolute. "I'll stop when I'm finished and I'm not yet finished. I think 75 sounds like a good number. But ask me then, not now."

That would give her four more years to try and keep the ship turned around here in Corpus Christi.

From the looks of things, they're going to need it..


TEXAS A&M-CC ISLANDERS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/08/48 #21 San Diego 22-7 19 L 89-72 0-1
11/09/48 #7 Virginia Tech 24-4 13 L 96-75 0-2
11/14/48 at Southern Michigan 12-15 329 L 86-83 0-3
11/19/48 at Oregon 9-18 183 L 76-65 0-4
11/22/48 Eastern Michigan 12-16 280 L 79-61 0-5
11/27/48 Cambridge 10-18 361 W 65-49 1-5
12/01/48 at Texas-Pan American 19-8 104 W 87-77 2-5
12/09/48 at Missouri S&T 10-19 291 W 87-74 3-5
12/13/48 at Northern Kentucky 13-17 368 L 72-65 3-6
12/16/48 at Tarleton State 18-11 194 W 71-60 4-6 (1-0)
12/19/48 Stephen F. Austin 4-25 396 W 63-55 5-6 (2-0)
12/23/48 Nicholls State 2-27 398 W 66-64 6-6 (3-0)
12/26/48 at Central Arkansas 14-15 236 L 90-62 6-7 (3-1)
12/30/48 at Nebraska State 15-15 79 W 91-88 7-7
01/02/49 McNeese State 10-19 371 L 77-72 7-8 (3-2)
01/06/49 UTEP 11-18 156 L 79-62 7-9 (3-3)
01/09/49 at Stephen F. Austin 4-25 396 W 74-60 8-9 (4-3)
01/13/49 at Texas-Arlington 17-12 205 L 88-84 8-10 (4-4)
01/16/49 Lamar 15-14 267 L 68-67 8-11 (4-5)
01/20/49 at McNeese State 10-19 371 L 67-55 8-12 (4-6)
01/24/49 San Jose State 17-10 120 L 55-41 8-13
01/30/49 Houston Baptist 15-14 224 W 91-67 9-13 (5-6)
02/03/49 at Lamar 15-14 267 L 86-77 9-14 (5-7)
02/06/49 Texas-Arlington 17-12 205 W 83-75 10-14 (6-7)
02/10/49 at Nicholls State 2-27 398 W 68-66 11-14 (7-7)
02/13/49 Northwestern State 16-13 275 W 78-68 12-14 (8-7)
02/17/49 Tarleton State 18-11 194 L 61-52 12-15 (8-8)
02/20/49 at UTEP 11-18 156 W 67-46 13-15 (9-8)
02/24/49 at Southeastern Louisiana 19-10 164 L 93-57 13-16 (9-9)
02/27/49 Central Arkansas 14-15 236 L 81-74 13-17 (9-10)
03/03/49 at Sam Houston State 17-12 115 L 76-59 13-18 (9-11)

[Young Drachma]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7d/Sunrise_Athletic_Conference_logo.jpg

A new mid-major league formed of teams from various conferences. The new Sunrise Conference will start play next season with the following teams:

New Orleans
UTEP
East Carolina
Rocky Mount State
CCNY
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Alabama-Huntsville
USC Upstate
Marshall

[Young Drachma]

Another year, another disappointing season for the Islanders.


TEXAS A&M-CC ISLANDERS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/07/49 #20 Texas A&M 24-9 14 L 90-77 0-1
11/08/49 Duke 19-11 80 W 73-72 1-1
11/16/49 Sam Houston State 19-11 95 L 90-77 1-2
11/19/49 at Prairie View A&M 22-10 74 L 83-50 1-3
11/23/49 at Baylor 8-21 381 L 92-83 1-4
11/26/49 at #1 Arkansas 30-2 1 L 77-50 1-5
11/30/49 at Texas-Pan American 19-11 88 L 84-79 1-6
12/04/49 Yellowstone 13-16 331 W 85-82 2-6
12/09/49 at Denver 19-11 62 L 84-74 2-7
12/11/49 at Vassar 7-22 394 W 74-64 3-7
12/13/49 at Houston 20-11 86 L 97-68 3-8
12/16/49 at Texas-San Antonio 16-15 206 L 99-70 3-9
12/21/49 Southern Michigan 7-22 389 W 97-71 4-9
12/26/49 Marshall 11-19 305 W 67-59 5-9 (1-0)
12/29/49 at Alabama-Huntsville 21-9 79 W 76-71 6-9 (2-0)
01/02/50 New Orleans 21-11 108 W 76-73 7-9 (3-0)
01/05/50 at UTEP 17-14 175 W 71-63 8-9 (4-0)
01/09/50 USC Upstate 12-18 237 L 71-62 8-10 (4-1)
01/12/50 at CCNY 22-14 133 W 86-66 9-10 (5-1)
01/16/50 at Rocky Mount State 14-17 320 W 65-59 10-10 (6-1)
01/20/50 North Dakota 13-17 263 L 80-77 10-11
01/23/50 at New Orleans 21-11 108 L 72-63 10-12 (6-2)
01/26/50 CCNY 22-14 133 L 80-70 10-13 (6-3)
01/30/50 at USC Upstate 12-18 237 W 78-74 11-13 (7-3)
02/02/50 Alabama-Huntsville 21-9 79 L 59-46 11-14 (7-4)
02/05/50 at Northern Connecticut 9-20 391 L 95-81 11-15
02/07/50 South Arizona 19-10 256 W 97-87 12-15
02/09/50 at Marshall 11-19 305 W 90-88 13-15 (8-4)
02/13/50 East Carolina 12-20 162 L 80-64 13-16 (8-5)
02/16/50 UTEP 17-14 175 L 83-73 13-17 (8-6)
02/20/50 Charlotte 17-14 147 L 67-53 13-18
03/03/50 vs. East Carolina 12-20 162 L 91-73 13-19


After the Sunrise Conference Semi-Final game versus ECU, Sue Muldowney announced that next season would be her last year at TAMU-CC. The team will promote Lilah Salvador ('49), who is the school 3rd all-time leading scorer and graduate assistant to the staff as a full-time coach next year.

[Young Drachma]

http://media.ticketmaster.com/tm/en-us/dbimages/42507a

UCLA hires 73-year old Sue Muldowney as head women's coach

"It all happened so fast," said Muldowney at her new digs at Pauly Pavillion. "But it's very good to be back in LA," said the one-time USC coach who is now in her second act as a college coach after eight years off spread between politics and other pursuits.

UCLA decided after the retirement of long-time head coach Chloe Rogers that they wanted to opt for experience. In the end, they made the call to the one coach with more experience than anyone else.

"We're glad she's here and we're looking forward to her help in finally raising a banner here at UCLA," said athletic director Marilyn Sheppard, a graduate of Nebraska when Muldowney came there and led that school to their only national championship.

"It was in the back of my mind. But I wasn't certain she wanted to leave where she was," said Sheppard.

"I talked it over with my son. He said that he wanted to see me do it. That he thought we made a lot of progress even though the record didn't reflect that [at Texas A&M-CC] but that he hoped to see me reach the mountaintop. I wasn't so sure. But in the end, we're gonna give it one last climb up the mountain and see what happens."

She takes over a UCLA club that lost in last year's Elite Eight and is three years removed from back to back Final Four appearances. She joins a former player and assistant coach in Aiyana Taylor, who took over for her at USC and remains there.

"I have to say that it's going to be fun beating UCLA, but not as fun beating Coach. I've never had to play her before and I'm not especially excited about doing it. But she wouldn't want me to say that. And now that she's coaching in my conference, I can't call and ask for advice anymore," said Taylor, laughing when asked about her mentor and friend.

Taylor has not been able to win a national title herself, but still has one of the best win percentages of any coach in the country still active.

Meanwhile, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi made an unorthodox move hiring 23-year old Lilah Salvador. She spent last season as a graduate assistant, but spent four years with the program and is 3rd all-time in points. The move was pretty much called for by all of the current players and heavily endorsed by Muldowney herself.

"She's ready. It's going to be a new thing for her and she'll have to get her feet wet. But she watched me for years and I feel like of all of my former players, it's possible that she's the best one to ever decide to coach. I'm excited to see what they do," said Muldowney.

So with that, UCLA gets a new coach. Whether this marriage will work or not, is anyone's guess. But with the clock ticking on a career, one has to think this is the final stop in a Hall of Fame career without parallel.

[Izulde]

I can imagine the stories coming out after her lackluster T&M-CC years about the game having passed her by and fans furious about the hire at UCLA.

[Young Drachma]

Any doubts -- and there were lots -- that Sue Muldowney had lost her touch when UCLA hired her as a coach at the age of 73 dissipated after her Bruins squad destroyed the Pac-12, going 17-1 in conference play and claiming the conference tournament title.


#6 UCLA BRUINS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/13/50 Southern Illinois 21-10 35 L 98-88 0-1
11/17/50 at #11 Towson 24-7 18 L 87-79 0-2
11/20/50 at Houston 22-9 23 W 73-65 1-2
11/25/50 at #23 West Virginia 22-9 43 W 90-81 2-2
11/27/50 Nebraska State 14-16 131 W 82-59 3-2
12/01/50 #15 Pittsburgh 23-9 3 W 78-61 4-2
12/04/50 Kennesaw State 15-17 66 W 92-88 5-2
12/11/50 at Saint Mary's 15-16 119 L 76-71 5-3
12/16/50 Long Beach State 20-10 116 W 111-65 6-3
12/30/50 #1 Duke 30-3 11 L 93-82 6-4
01/01/51 Georgia Tech 19-12 48 W 99-70 7-4
01/05/51 Washington 16-14 57 W 74-59 8-4 (1-0)
01/07/51 at Oregon State 15-18 60 W 83-71 9-4 (2-0)
01/12/51 California 21-10 28 W 82-69 10-4 (3-0)
01/14/51 at Colorado 12-18 204 W 92-74 11-4 (4-0)
01/19/51 at Oregon 15-15 79 W 96-90 12-4 (5-0)
01/21/51 #10 Southern California 25-6 14 W 76-61 13-4 (6-0)
01/26/51 at Stanford 9-20 235 W 83-67 14-4 (7-0)
01/28/51 Washington State 17-16 145 W 67-57 15-4 (8-0)
02/02/51 at Washington State 17-16 145 W 82-55 16-4 (9-0)
02/04/51 at Washington 16-14 57 W 88-59 17-4 (10-0)
02/09/51 Arizona State 8-22 183 W 91-65 18-4 (11-0)
02/11/51 Oregon 15-15 79 W 83-72 19-4 (12-0)
02/16/51 Oregon State 15-18 60 W 97-73 20-4 (13-0)
02/18/51 Arizona 23-9 50 W 85-60 21-4 (14-0)
02/23/51 at #10 Southern California 25-6 14 L 72-64 21-5 (14-1)
02/25/51 at California 21-10 28 W 77-65 22-5 (15-1)
03/02/51 Colorado 12-18 204 W 80-64 23-5 (16-1)
03/04/51 at Utah 19-12 33 W 93-63 24-5 (17-1)
03/11/51 vs. Washington State 17-16 145 W 69-53 25-5
03/12/51 vs. #10 Southern California 25-6 14 W 83-62 26-5


The Bruins are the #1 seed in the West region. In other news, Texas A&M-CC had their best regular season ever. Going 22-12 and earning a 7-seed in the WNIT South region.

Another cool story, is that Denver - on the heels of back to back WNIT appearances -- have earned their first NCAA tourney bid since 1955.

Meanwhile, Sue Muldowney has her eyes on the prize. She was brought here to win a title and anything less than that will be a huge letdown for the fans at UCLA who expected that this team would be good enough to do what it did in conference play. Most of the UCLA faithful feel that even with a title, the program should thank Muldowney for her services and send her on her way to find a coach who can build a program long-term. Some want the school to woo USC's coach Aiyana Taylor to Westwood, but given the intense rivalry between the two that seems less than likely to happen.

The fact that the next coach stays on the radar with the program in the midst of a tournament run, stresses the split amongst the fan base at the decision to hire a legendary coach. But amongst her players, it's clear that it's business as usual.

"We're just lucky that we can spend time with her," said senior guard Mia McNeese (Fillmore, CA) who added, "I don't think there's a coach in the country who would've been better for this team right now. We're just so together as a unit, we're not even a veteran team and so..she's perfect for our type of team. I'm just happy to know I can tell my future kids that I played for her. She's a legend."

Well, we'll see if the legend can grow as she takes her UCLA squad towards the postseason for their first title and her 11th?

NCAA TOURNAMENT
1st round: UCLA 94, 16) Richmond 78
2nd round: UCLA, 70, 8) Loyola Marymount 68
Sweet 16: 5) San Diego 88 UCLA 73


San Diego 83, UCLA 77

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
San Diego (24-11, 7-9):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Rachel Cervantez C 33 1-2 0-0 1 6 4 2 2
Aliana Eck PF 36 11-15 1-4 4 15 4 2 23
Shaniya Theobald SF 32 5-12 1-3 3 7 5 3 13
Halle Pizarro SG 17 3-9 1-2 0 1 3 4 10
Ava Byler PG 35 3-8 0-0 0 0 3 1 7
Brianna Grabowski PG 14 2-3 1-2 0 2 1 1 7
Aubrey Phillips SG 19 6-8 2-2 1 1 1 1 15
Ava Lewis SG 4 2-2 0-0 0 1 0 0 4
Ashley Silva C 6 0-2 2-2 3 3 0 0 2
Gabriela Brandon PF 4 0-0 0-0 0 2 1 0 0

Turnovers: 15 (R.Cervantez 1, A.Eck 4, S.Theobald 4,
H.Pizarro 3, A.Byler 2, B.Grabowski 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (A.Eck 1, H.Pizarro 1)
Steals: 6 (S.Theobald 2, A.Byler 2, B.Grabowski 1,
A.Phillips 1)
3P FGs: 9-19 (S.Theobald 2-3, H.Pizarro 3-7, A.Byler
1-5, B.Grabowski 2-3, A.Phillips 1-1)

UCLA (28-6, 17-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Ashley Egan C 26 0-0 2-2 2 6 0 0 2
Alondra Bilbrey PF 25 1-3 0-0 0 6 2 0 2
Amanda Reimer SF 34 4-13 0-0 1 3 2 5 8
Mia McNeese SG 35 8-19 4-5 3 4 8 2 24
Denisse Renard PG 36 5-10 2-4 1 3 9 2 15
Jenna Banner PF 24 8-14 0-1 2 5 1 4 21
Destiny Francisco PG 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Marie Warren C 14 2-4 1-2 1 3 0 2 5
Payton Malik SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0

Turnovers: 15 (A.Reimer 7, M.McNeese 3, J.Banner 2,
D.Francisco 1, M.Warren 1, P.Malik 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (A.Egan 2)
Steals: 6 (A.Egan 2, M.McNeese 2, D.Renard 1, J.Banner
1)
3P FGs: 12-28 (A.Reimer 0-1, M.McNeese 4-9, D.Renard
3-8, J.Banner 5-10)

Player of Game: PF Aliana Eck (SNDGO)


Texas A&M-CC won their 1st round game in the WNIT, before losing in the 2nd round to Tulane 88-82. It matches the school record for wins with 23. Denver upset 6-seed Texas Tech before losing in the 2nd round, en route to their first tourney win in school history.

After the defeat at the hands of WCC power (heh) San Diego (the WCC has emerged into a power league, btw..SD will play Gonzaga in the Elite 8 of that bracket) the fans were immediately on board with finding a new coach. The audience is split between those who want to find one of the top coaches out there that might be a better fit for the role, but it's clear to everyone that Muldowney wants to coach at least one more -- if not two -- years to coach through age 75, as she's said a few times. Her contract was a one-year deal with two one-year options, aimed at giving her and the school some options.

With the disappointment hovering around the program after the dominance of the past year, it's not clear what will happen. Will Muldowney bow out gracefully? Will this be the last we see of a Hall of Famer?

The answers are forthcoming.

2050 FINAL FOUR
Only one top-seed made it to the Final Four this year.

5) San Diego 3) Miami 1) Purdue 9) Nebraska

This is San Diego's first-ever Final Four appearance. They went 7-9 in the WCC and 25-11 overall. Miami is two seasons removed from a national championship and lost in the 2nd round last year. Purdue also lost in the 2nd round last year, this is the 15th Final Four in program history. This is Nebraska's 11th Final Four, the last came in 2040. They lost in the 2nd round last year, too.

[Young Drachma]

Miami won their 2nd title in 3 years, beating Nebraska in the NCAA Final.

Immediately after, reports were surfacing that 48-year old Nebraska head coach Evelyn Levitt would be named UCLA head coach. Said one source, "She's a hot name in the game right now and the fear was that if we waited say another year, she'd go off to some larger school back east or something worse. We couldn't take that risk. She's a California native and everyone seems to think she's a perfect successor to lead the program for the next twenty years. We appreciate what Sue did and think she was probably the right person in a one-year stead since we lost a veteran coach who retired but...we can't let the program languish when the right candidate shows up."

Here's the resume of Levitt:


COACH DETAILS

Evelyn Leavitt - Head Coach - UCLA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age: 49
High School: Mt. Shasta High School
Hometown: Mount Shasta, CA
Alma Mater: Idaho State

Current Level: 9
Career Record: 404 - 236

Recruiting: 26
Scouting: 65
Offense: 93
Defense: 76


Coaching History:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season Team Position W L CW CL Postseason
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2050 Nebraska Head Coach 25 12 10 8 Loss in NCAA Championship Game
2049 Nebraska Head Coach 22 11 11 7 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2048 Nebraska Head Coach 25 8 14 4 Loss in NCAA Round 1
2047 Nebraska Head Coach 15 14 7 11 No Postseason
2046 Georgia Head Coach 24 9 9 7 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2045 Georgia Head Coach 19 11 7 9 Loss in NCAA Round 1
2044 Georgia Head Coach 25 9 11 5 Loss in NCAA Elite Eight
2043 Georgia Head Coach 21 12 9 7 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2042 Georgia Head Coach 22 11 9 7 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2041 Georgia Head Coach 16 14 6 10 No Postseason
2040 Georgia Head Coach 17 13 5 11 No Postseason
2039 Georgia Head Coach 25 10 10 6 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2038 Georgia Head Coach 28 6 13 3 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2037 College of Charleston Head Coach 16 14 11 9 No Postseason
2036 College of Charleston Head Coach 17 14 11 9 No Postseason
2035 College of Charleston Head Coach 14 17 8 12 No Postseason
2034 College of Charleston Head Coach 17 13 12 8 No Postseason
2033 South Alabama Head Coach 16 14 11 5 No Postseason
2032 South Alabama Head Coach 16 14 9 7 No Postseason
2031 South Alabama Head Coach 24 10 12 4 Loss in WNIT Round 2
2030 Louisiana State Assistant 19 14 7 9 Loss in NCAA Round 1
2029 Louisiana State Assistant 30 6 13 3 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2028 Louisiana State Assistant 23 10 11 5 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2027 Louisiana State Assistant 16 16 6 10 Loss in A3 Round 1

Awards & Achievements:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season Award
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2048 Big Ten Conference Champion
2038 Conference Coach of the Year (Southeastern Conference)
2031 Sun Belt Conference Champion

Job Movement:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season Move
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2051 Hired by UCLA (Head Coach)
2051 Quit job with Nebraska
2047 Hired by Nebraska (Head Coach)
2047 Quit job with Georgia to pursue a higher position
2038 Hired by Georgia (Head Coach)
2038 Quit job with College of Charleston to pursue a higher position
2034 Hired by College of Charleston (Head Coach)
2034 Quit job with South Alabama to pursue a higher position
2031 Hired by South Alabama (Head Coach)
2031 Quit job with Louisiana State to pursue a higher position
2027 Hired by Louisiana State (Assistant Coach)

[Young Drachma]

If the reports are true -- and all indications are that they are -- should Muldowney call it quits now? It seems unlikely that any major program would want to deal with this again and that her only options.

Sources out of Nebraska indicate that there is "zero chance" of a reunion with the Huskers and Muldowney, despite her leading them to a national title prior to her first retirement.

The oldest current coach in-game is Purdue's 74-year old head coach Alissa Hudson, who has 752 career wins but no national titles. She spent nearly two decades at Pepperdine before making the move the Big Ten and leading the Boilermakers to the Final Four in her first year. "She's evidence that it can be done at a high level and is probably what will convince a major program to take a flier on Muldowney. But it'll take a program with a lot of seniors, who want to win now and also that has a vacancy. Those jobs just don't open up often," said one basketball analyst with Sports Illustrated.

60-year old Andee Hooper, who played for Muldowney at Nebraska State and who has been an assistant with her at Nebraska State, USC and this past year at UCLA has taken the job at Oregon, replacing another Muldowney disciple Marie Hunley who retired.

There's some whispers that Muldowney might join her staff in Eugene. But at 74, some think that the veteran coach still has the fire in her belly for another go at it anywhere.

"It's sort of crazy to be a coach with that many titles and still having schools question whether you still have it or not. I think she has something to prove and so, you have to think that even with more wins and titles than anyone else, she wants to go out on her own terms."

We're going to see what that leads to.

[Young Drachma]

After the major conference offers dried up, Sue Muldowney had two options. The first was to retire. "I don't understand why her legacy needs anymore," said her own son, in imploring her to call it quits.

But she said she wasn't done yet and the UCLA gig left a bad taste in her mouth. "I'd like to have had another year or two to really see what we could've done. But they had to make the best move for them."

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/50252_119940383309_1648645_n.jpg

Enter DePauw University. A former Division 3 school transitioning to Division 1, the program was seeking a veteran coach to help them lead the program in basketball crazy Indiana, which hasn't seen a national champion from its midst ever.

The idea was to have Coach Muldowney take over as head coach and to bring an assistant along as head coach in waiting. Whether it'd be a year or two at the helm before stepping aside, DePauw was excited to get a coach with so much experience.

But before that move could happen...something else happened.

The previous oldest coach in college basketball Purdue's Alyssa Hudson decided to retire. At 74, no one could blame her though a number of folks thought she'd hang around a bit longer after having taken the Boilermakers to the doorstep of the Final Four once again. But instead, she said she'd had enough of the travel after the hiring period ended.

Portland's 51-year old head coach Kairi Harder took the job, after 12 years at Portland where she took the team to 4 Elite Eights and a national championship final.

Portland had little time to close ranks. With the #1 recruiting class in the nation coming in, they had to fill the holes fast. It just so happens that when you have a hall of fame coach on the bench looking to get in, that the match might work.

So the two made the deal work and with that , Sue Muldowney landed on her feet as the head coach at the University of Portland.

http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pilots-logo-262x300.jpg

She brought with her former UCLA standout Mia McNeese as one of her assistants and who most believe is her unofficial "head coach in waiting" provided things go well.

"I simply couldn't resist this last opportunity. In a lot of ways, I feel like I've had two careers. There was the Nebraska State part and then there was the post-Nebraska State life. I just took a bit longer than most to explore these other possibilities. But I have no regrets and look forward to helping the Pilots in a big way."

She confirmed that after how things went down at UCLA, that she was clear that she would retire for good at the end of this contract. "Two years and that's it. From there, I feel like there are hundreds of great coaches and I need to get out of their way," she said laughing.

Muldowney says "I'm a young 74." She's about to be tested once again, as the 2nd act of a Hall of Fame career finds her on another bench, aiming to do the unthinkable.

[Young Drachma]

Sue Muldowney takes over a very talented Portland Pilots women's basketball team that is not deep. Why? Because she cut the walk-ons. So they're rolling this year with ten players, which will be a problem as the grind of the season wears on.

Still, it's a talented squad containing several former 5 (*) recruits, two McDonald's All-Americans and a bench that would start for most mid-major programs.

Will it be enough to get them where they want to be? We'll find out.


#2 PORTLAND PILOTS Potential

Player Pos Yr Ins Jps Fts 3ps Hnd Pas Orb Drb Psd Prd Stl Blk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teagan Leeds C Sr A C C F C C C B B C C A
Michelle Smith PF Sr C D B F D F B B B D D A
Ivy Kamp SF Fr A C C A D C B B A C A B
Kaylynn Mendiola SG So B A B B C D D D C C C C
Jessica Ledesma PG So C A C B A B D C C D C C
Bailey Bennett PG So D C C D B B C F C A C C
Lisa Robertson SG Fr C A B B D C D F D C F C
Brianna King SF So C C C C B C C C D C D D
Erika Marrero C Fr A D B F C C C A A C F C
Jamie Carrizales PF Fr C D C F C F A A A D D F




#2 PORTLAND PILOTS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/06/51 Western Carolina 0-0 294
11/11/51 at North Carolina Wesleyan 0-0 362
11/16/51 at Niagara 0-0 173
11/19/51 at #4 Southern California 0-0 259
11/24/51 at #16 Hofstra 0-0 119
11/30/51 North Texas 0-0 322
12/03/51 #22 Virginia Tech 0-0 34
12/07/51 Evansville 0-0 213
12/09/51 at Holy Cross 0-0 269
12/14/51 at Washington (Mo.) 0-0 345
12/17/51 at Texas A&M-CC 0-0 304
12/22/51 at Stanford 0-0 260
12/29/51 at Wichita State 0-0 219
12/31/51 at Fordham 0-0 13
01/04/52 Loyola Marymount 0-0 329
01/06/52 at San Diego 0-0 333
01/11/52 Denver 0-0 336
01/13/52 Seattle 0-0 143
01/18/52 at Seattle 0-0 143
01/20/52 at Brigham Young 0-0 327
01/25/52 at Santa Clara 0-0 335
01/27/52 Saint Mary's 0-0 332
02/01/52 at Denver 0-0 336
02/03/52 Pacific 0-0 110
02/08/52 at Loyola Marymount 0-0 329
02/10/52 San Francisco 0-0 334
02/15/52 Brigham Young 0-0 327
02/17/52 at Pepperdine 0-0 330
02/22/52 at #15 Gonzaga 0-0 328
02/24/52 San Diego 0-0 333

[Young Drachma]

#4 PORTLAND PILOTS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/06/51 Western Carolina 19-13 95 W 84-78 1-0
11/07/51 Houston 20-10 31 W 83-72 2-0
11/08/51 #6 California 24-6 2 W 80-70 3-0
11/11/51 at North Carolina Wesleyan 17-12 158 W 77-67 4-0
11/16/51 at Niagara 21-10 48 L 92-83 4-1
11/19/51 at #3 Southern California 25-4 3 L 82-79 4-2
11/24/51 at Hofstra 22-10 30 L 118-86 4-3
11/30/51 North Texas 21-7 42 W 79-66 5-3
12/03/51 Virginia Tech 18-11 45 W 73-64 6-3
12/07/51 Evansville 20-11 37 W 100-65 7-3
12/09/51 at Holy Cross 18-12 131 W 84-54 8-3
12/14/51 at Washington (Mo.) 14-15 339 W 78-64 9-3
12/17/51 at Texas A&M-CC 20-12 114 W 89-81 10-3
12/22/51 at Stanford 19-10 14 L 84-77 10-4
12/29/51 at Wichita State 20-11 91 L 79-65 10-5
12/31/51 at Fordham 12-17 294 W 70-42 11-5
01/04/52 Loyola Marymount 14-15 129 W 90-78 12-5 (1-0)
01/06/52 at #23 San Diego 21-9 40 L 77-64 12-6 (1-1)
01/11/52 Denver 14-15 186 W 91-72 13-6 (2-1)
01/13/52 Seattle 19-13 67 W 80-72 14-6 (3-1)
01/18/52 at Seattle 19-13 67 L 83-61 14-7 (3-2)
01/20/52 at Brigham Young 16-13 100 W 82-79 15-7 (4-2)
01/25/52 at Santa Clara 13-16 147 W 75-59 16-7 (5-2)
01/27/52 Saint Mary's 14-17 149 W 85-58 17-7 (6-2)
02/01/52 at Denver 14-15 186 W 96-77 18-7 (7-2)
02/03/52 Pacific 22-10 19 W 98-53 19-7 (8-2)
02/08/52 at Loyola Marymount 14-15 129 W 91-64 20-7 (9-2)
02/10/52 San Francisco 9-20 256 W 93-76 21-7 (10-2)
02/15/52 Brigham Young 16-13 100 W 81-67 22-7 (11-2)
02/17/52 at #19 Pepperdine 24-8 27 W 94-60 23-7 (12-2)
02/22/52 at Gonzaga 19-11 54 W 57-47 24-7 (13-2)
02/24/52 #23 San Diego 21-9 40 W 92-69 25-7 (14-2)
03/02/52 vs. #23 San Diego 21-9 40 W 86-77 26-7
03/03/52 vs. Pacific 22-10 19 W 84-47 27-7


Portland is the #2 seed in the West region. Nebraska State and Texas A&M-CC both made the NIT. UCLA is in the NCAAs again as a 7-seed in the West region after going 20-11 this year. If we win our respective first round matchups, we'll face each other in the 2nd round.

NCAA TOURNAMENT
The AD only expects us to make the Sweet 16. What a difference a conference makes.

1st round: vs. 15-seed Ball State (W, 98-51)
2nd round: vs. 7-seed UCLA (W, 61-43)

Obviously this is as about as horrible a matchup as you could want, in the sense that we know them very well, but realize that they were woefully underseeded no matter what anyone says. This game will end up as a referendum on whether or not the program should've let Sue Muldowney go. Portland fans won't see it that way win or lose, but UCLA fans will care and so, Muldowney has a lot at stake in this game personally.

Sweet 16: vs. 3-seed West Virginia (W, 65-63)

Once again, Sue Muldowney stands in the way of her former player Aiyana Taylor's path to a Final Four. "I can't lie. Part of me hates when I have to play her. She deserves everything and whenever we have to face each other in these situations, I feel like I'd rather be rooting for her than coaching against her," said Muldowney.

For her part, Taylor said that she "feels no kind of stress at all. Coach prepared me for these moments years and years ago. And it's not even about us, it's about those girls on the court."

For the 2nd straight year, another WCC team is also in the Elite 8 in the form of 10th seed Gonzaga in the East region.

Elite 8: vs. 1-seed USC

Portland 88, Southern California 78

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Portland (31-7, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Teagan Leeds C 37 9-11 8-12 1 5 1 1 26
Ivy Kamp SF 37 7-15 6-8 0 13 3 1 21
Michelle Smith PF 26 2-5 4-4 4 7 2 4 8
Kaylynn Mendiola SG 29 5-11 2-4 3 6 2 4 13
Jessica Ledesma PG 37 4-10 4-4 2 5 9 4 14
Bailey Bennett PG 19 0-1 4-4 0 2 2 1 4
Lisa Robertson SG 5 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Brianna King PF 10 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 2
Jamie Carrizales C 2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0

Turnovers: 14 (T.Leeds 2, I.Kamp 2, M.Smith 2,
K.Mendiola 4, J.Ledesma 2, L.Robertson 2)
Blocked Shots: 11 (T.Leeds 7, I.Kamp 2, M.Smith 1,
J.Ledesma 1)
Steals: 1 (K.Mendiola 1)
3P FGs: 4-18 (I.Kamp 1-6, K.Mendiola 1-3, J.Ledesma
2-8, B.Bennett 0-1)

Southern California (30-5, 15-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Angel Walker C 21 4-4 0-0 4 5 1 5 8
Alayah Pulley PF 20 3-8 0-0 5 11 2 5 6
M. Deleaulcourt SF 33 7-21 1-2 1 3 4 4 19
S. Willhite SG 29 8-18 5-5 0 2 1 5 23
Mikaela Medley PG 27 4-9 0-0 3 5 4 1 9
Ellie Lawson PG 13 1-1 0-1 1 2 3 0 2
Ximena Session PF 16 2-6 0-0 1 1 0 2 5
Liliana Wilson SF 16 1-8 0-0 2 4 1 0 2
Chloe Fiore C 12 2-5 0-2 3 5 0 3 4
Lilly James PF 9 0-2 0-0 1 3 0 2 0
Kelsey Piercy C 3 0-1 0-0 1 1 1 0 0

Turnovers: 7 (A.Walker 2, A.Pulley 1, M.Deleaulcourt 1,
M.Medley 2, L.James 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (C.Fiore 1)
Steals: 6 (A.Pulley 1, M.Deleaulcourt 2, M.Medley 1,
E.Lawson 1, L.Wilson 1)
3P FGs: 8-30 (M.Deleaulcourt 4-8, S.Willhite 2-5,
M.Medley 1-5, X.Session 1-4, L.Wilson 0-5, C.Fiore
0-2, L.James 0-1)

Player of Game: C Teagan Leeds (PORTL)



For the first time in 11 years, a Sue Muldowney led team will be headed to the Final Four. Joining them will be 10th seeded Gonzaga out of the East Region. The head coach of that team? Former Nebraska State head coach and Muldowney disciple Juliette Chaplin. She is in her first year at Gonzaga. It's their first Final Four in school history. 3rd seed Duke will take on Portland and 2nd seed Indiana State, who are also in their first Final Four will take on the Zags in the other semi-final.

[Young Drachma]

All four #1 seeds dropped in the Elite 8 (USC, Purdue, Tennessee, Cal) leaving this Final Four with two teams that have never won national titles. Portland won their only title in 2038, the year before Kairi Harder took over for the retiring Amelia Sartin and Duke has won six, the last coming 29 years ago.



Portland 89, Duke 62

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Duke (28-10, 11-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Melanie Gosselin C 25 3-9 0-0 2 3 1 4 6
Amelia Wachter PF 31 0-8 1-2 1 8 2 2 1
Bailey Sanchez SF 29 3-9 0-0 4 9 3 1 6
Emily Llewellyn SG 23 5-12 5-7 4 4 0 0 17
Ivo Rejchrt PG 23 5-12 0-1 3 4 2 1 11
Arya Sell PG 16 3-5 0-0 1 1 1 1 7
Amber Martin SF 20 3-12 0-0 3 6 2 2 8
Nicole Darnell PG 11 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Chloe Norfleet SG 9 0-1 1-2 1 2 1 2 1
Kenzie Bryant SF 1 0-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 0
Arielle Lawrence C 12 2-2 1-1 1 3 0 4 5

Turnovers: 13 (M.Gosselin 1, B.Sanchez 2, E.Llewellyn
1, I.Rejchrt 2, A.Martin 4, N.Darnell 1, A.Lawrence 2)
Blocked Shots: 3 (A.Wachter 2, I.Rejchrt 1)
Steals: 7 (M.Gosselin 1, A.Wachter 1, E.Llewellyn 1,
A.Sell 2, A.Martin 2)
3P FGs: 6-28 (A.Wachter 0-3, E.Llewellyn 2-4, I.Rejchrt
1-7, A.Sell 1-2, A.Martin 2-10, N.Darnell 0-1,
C.Norfleet 0-1)

Portland (32-7, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Teagan Leeds C 33 10-13 5-6 2 10 4 3 25
Ivy Kamp SF 33 4-9 2-2 1 11 8 1 11
Michelle Smith PF 29 3-3 1-1 0 4 0 0 7
Kaylynn Mendiola SG 31 10-16 0-0 0 0 1 3 28
Jessica Ledesma PG 26 2-5 1-3 0 4 7 4 5
Bailey Bennett PG 10 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 5 0
Lisa Robertson SG 14 3-6 0-0 0 3 2 0 8
Brianna King PF 16 1-1 2-4 0 0 2 1 5
Jamie Carrizales C 4 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Erika Marrero PF 4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0

Turnovers: 15 (T.Leeds 2, I.Kamp 1, M.Smith 1,
K.Mendiola 5, J.Ledesma 3, B.Bennett 1, L.Robertson 1,
B.King 1)
Blocked Shots: 10 (T.Leeds 4, I.Kamp 1, M.Smith 5)
Steals: 5 (T.Leeds 1, K.Mendiola 2, J.Ledesma 1, B.King
1)
3P FGs: 12-19 (I.Kamp 1-2, K.Mendiola 8-12, L.Robertson
2-4, B.King 1-1)

Player of Game: C Teagan Leeds (PORTL)


In the other semi-final, Indiana State rolled to their first title game upending Gonzaga to prevent the all-WCC final.


Indiana State 74, Gonzaga 43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gonzaga (23-12, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Jennifer Snider C 26 2-4 2-2 4 6 2 2 6
Jennifer Layfield PF 25 2-3 0-0 1 2 0 2 4
Sarah Lippert SF 30 5-10 2-2 1 8 2 2 14
Elaine Ozuna SG 25 4-9 0-0 1 3 0 2 9
Melissa Johnson PG 33 3-11 0-0 2 3 6 1 6
Cheyenne Duhon SG 23 1-5 0-0 0 3 0 1 2
Jocelyn Gillett PF 16 0-1 0-0 0 2 0 3 0
Amanda Young SG 7 1-4 0-0 1 3 0 2 2
Haleigh Caron SF 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0
Kailee Denson C 12 0-2 0-0 1 3 0 0 0

Turnovers: 20 (J.Snider 3, J.Layfield 2, S.Lippert 5,
E.Ozuna 3, M.Johnson 2, C.Duhon 4, K.Denson 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (J.Snider 3, J.Layfield 2)
Steals: 2 (S.Lippert 1, E.Ozuna 1)
3P FGs: 3-19 (J.Layfield 0-1, S.Lippert 2-3, E.Ozuna
1-4, M.Johnson 0-6, C.Duhon 0-1, J.Gillett 0-1,
A.Young 0-3)

Indiana State (36-1, 16-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Sage Harrison C 29 2-7 3-3 0 5 2 4 7
Sarah Boyer PF 31 1-1 2-3 0 3 1 2 4
Jennifer Johnson SF 27 6-9 0-0 0 5 1 3 12
Izzy Thomas SG 33 13-21 4-5 3 3 2 1 33
Birdie Mitchell PG 33 4-9 2-2 3 6 9 0 14
Jessica Herron PG 22 0-2 1-2 0 0 2 0 1
Cali Wright SF 6 0-1 0-0 1 2 0 0 0
Charleigh Moon SF 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Ashley Valerio PF 6 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Mya Strickland SG 5 0-0 2-2 0 2 0 1 2
Rose Vuong C 5 0-1 1-2 0 1 0 0 1
Jennifer Madden PF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 6 (S.Harrison 1, J.Johnson 1, I.Thomas 1,
B.Mitchell 1, J.Herron 2)
Blocked Shots: 1 (S.Harrison 1)
Steals: 7 (J.Johnson 1, I.Thomas 2, B.Mitchell 3,
J.Herron 1)
3P FGs: 7-10 (I.Thomas 3-6, B.Mitchell 4-4)

Player of Game: SG Izzy Thomas (IN ST)


2051 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Indiana State 82, Portland 76

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indiana State (37-1, 16-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Sage Harrison C 28 7-9 2-4 1 4 1 3 16
Sarah Boyer PF 32 0-0 0-0 1 6 0 2 0
Jennifer Johnson SF 31 5-10 3-4 2 6 1 4 13
Izzy Thomas SG 33 11-24 3-6 1 1 2 4 27
Birdie Mitchell PG 35 7-11 7-7 1 3 13 1 22
Jessica Herron PG 18 0-0 0-0 0 0 5 1 0
Cali Wright SF 7 0-3 0-0 0 0 1 1 0
Charleigh Moon SF 4 1-4 0-0 1 3 0 0 2
Ashley Valerio SG 8 1-2 0-0 0 3 0 2 2
Mya Strickland SG 2 0-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 0
Rose Vuong C 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 10 (S.Harrison 2, S.Boyer 1, J.Johnson 1,
I.Thomas 5, A.Valerio 1)
Blocked Shots: 0
Steals: 9 (S.Boyer 3, B.Mitchell 2, J.Herron 2,
C.Wright 1, C.Moon 1)
3P FGs: 3-13 (I.Thomas 2-7, B.Mitchell 1-3, C.Moon 0-2,
A.Valerio 0-1)

Portland (32-8, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Teagan Leeds C 25 8-15 5-7 1 5 3 4 22
Ivy Kamp PF 35 5-5 7-8 3 12 7 3 19
Michelle Smith SF 28 1-2 0-0 1 7 1 4 2
Kaylynn Mendiola SG 37 2-6 2-2 1 4 2 1 7
Jessica Ledesma PG 35 5-11 4-4 0 1 6 2 17
Bailey Bennett PG 17 4-6 0-2 1 2 1 1 9
Lisa Robertson SG 6 0-3 0-0 0 2 1 1 0
Brianna King PF 14 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Jamie Carrizales C 5 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 0 0

Turnovers: 21 (T.Leeds 4, I.Kamp 2, M.Smith 2,
K.Mendiola 5, J.Ledesma 6, L.Robertson 1, B.King 1)
Blocked Shots: 4 (T.Leeds 3, B.Bennett 1)
Steals: 4 (K.Mendiola 1, J.Ledesma 2, B.Bennett 1)
3P FGs: 8-21 (T.Leeds 1-2, I.Kamp 2-2, K.Mendiola 1-5,
J.Ledesma 3-7, B.Bennett 1-2, L.Robertson 0-3)

Player of Game: PG Birdie Mitchell (IN ST)

It's Indiana State's first national title.


Nebraska won the NIT over Central Florida.

[Young Drachma]

Lots of you read this thing on drive-bys. So is this the last season of her career? Or is she going to come back for age 75 swan song? #1 recruiting class coming next year and only one senior starter being lost.

Do you let her get the long goodbye or does she retire on her own? Based on the feedback, I'll craft a story around it. But I'm too close to make a real decision.

[Cap Ologist]

One more year!

[lcjjdnh]

One more year!

+1

[Izulde]

+1

+2

[JonInMiddleGA]

+3 .... although after that immediate reaction I'd be tempted to change my mind.

The odds seem against her winning b2b titles there IMO - it's just too iffy - and going out with a title AND eliminating UCLA seems as though it may have proven her point. Blame it on deciding to spend more time with her son ... err grandchildren ... err great-grandchildren.

[Young Drachma]

Sue Muldowney was preparing to hang 'em up after her 46th year behind the bench. After 1364 career wins, she had figured she'd had enough. Despite a #1 recruiting class returning to Portland after losing out to Indiana State's super frosh duo in the national title game, there was confidence that she could come back and bring them to the mountaintop once more. After losing two more assistants to head coaching jobs in the form of Amy Lewis, who took the job at Texas A&M-CC replacing former Muldowney player Lilah Hernandez -- who actually resigned to take a job on the staff here at Portland -- and Rachel Cole, who took the job at Nebraska State, Muldowney figured there wasn't really anything left for her to accomplish.

Maybe the crazy number of 1400 career wins? Seems unlikely, since it would take 36 wins to do that and she hasn't had a team win that many games in in 25 years.

Mostly, she'd decided after having two of her former players in the Elite 8 last year and depriving one of them of another national title, she thought it wasn't fair for her to keep hanging out in a young woman's game. Of course, she enjoyed working with the girls at these programs and giving them insights and helping them learn meant a lot to her.

She spent literally that entire summer trying to decide the best course of action. At 75, she's no longer a spring chicken, she thought to herself.

The deciding factor was her grandson. He was now nearing college himself. He told his grandmother that he was sorry he couldn't play for her, because he'd always wanted to, but not to worry because he'd have a daughter and she could play for her.

She laughed. But it did occur to her that the fitting way to go out would be to have family around, like when it started. Her son said his fondest memories were being on the road with his mother.

But she’d made this last year this way on purpose. Her staff full of young 20-somethings with two of her former TAMU-CC players and a UCLA girl on the same staff, she felt like she was passing the baton. At first, she considered stepping aside. “It’s be nice for these girls to be able to win a title without me always hovering in the shadows.” But in another way, she thought, if her legacy was to push her girls to excellence in the same way she’d pushed them as players; that by coaching she was still coaching them...then she felt like it was her duty to come back and finish what they’d started here.

UCLA brought her in to win a title and then pulled the rug out before she got a chance. Portland gave her a chance, they knocked on the door and failed to get it done but not without a fight. To leave now without a chance to finish the job they were hired to do would be pulling the rug not only out from her girls, but from the coaches she’d hired to learn from her.

There would be one more chance at redemption.

[Young Drachma]

#6 PORTLAND PILOTS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/11/52 Kent State 0-0 120
11/17/52 #1 Indiana State 0-0 6
11/22/52 at #3 Purdue 0-0 5
11/24/52 at #2 Southern California 0-0 2
11/26/52 at Nebraska 0-0 29
11/29/52 Sacramento State 0-0 386
12/01/52 at Texas A&M-CC 0-0 97
12/04/52 at UCLA 0-0 23
12/07/52 at Nebraska State 0-0 108
12/12/52 Stanford 0-0 10
12/19/52 Oregon 0-0 142
12/29/52 at Oregon State 0-0 85
01/03/53 at Washington 0-0 17
01/09/53 Gonzaga 0-0 25
01/11/53 Pacific 0-0 18
01/16/53 at Saint Mary's 0-0 144
01/18/53 #22 San Diego 0-0 38
01/23/53 Brigham Young 0-0 105
01/25/53 at Denver 0-0 179
01/28/53 at Green Bay 0-0 66
01/30/53 at Seattle 0-0 61
02/01/53 at #22 San Diego 0-0 38
02/06/53 at Pacific 0-0 18
02/08/53 at Santa Clara 0-0 145
02/13/53 Denver 0-0 179
02/15/53 #18 Pepperdine 0-0 20
02/20/53 Loyola Marymount 0-0 124
02/22/53 at San Francisco 0-0 250
02/27/53 Saint Mary's 0-0 144
03/01/53 at Gonzaga 0-0 25


2052-53 SEASON PREVIEW
Since it’s Sue’s last year, we’ve managed to get games on the road at everywhere she’s coached. Interesting note, when she started at TAMU-CC, their prestige was barely 10. Now? It’s in the 40s. What a difference a few years makes!

We even setup a Bracketbusters game in January at UW-Green Bay, where Sue takes on her alma mater.

So while the schedule will be tough, when you include the rematch of the national title game we scheduled with Indiana State, it should give a good assessment of who we are by the time we reach conference play. The team should be better this year, there’s a lot more depth than we had last year running with a skeleton crew, but with no seniors, this team is in prime condition to run together and learn together; not to mention will be very easy to sell to a new coach who won’t have to make many tweaks to the program.


#6 PORTLAND PILOTS Potential

Player Pos Yr Ins Jps Fts 3ps Hnd Pas Orb Drb Psd Prd Stl Blk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brianna King PF Jr C C C C B C C C D C D D
Jennifer Ohalloran SF Fr A B A A D D C D C D B D
Ivy Kamp SF So A C C A D C B B A C A B
Kaylynn Mendiola SG Jr B A B B C D D D C C C C
Jessica Ledesma PG Jr C A C B A B D C C D C C
Jamie Carrizales C So C D C F C F A A A D D F
Bailey Bennett PG Jr D C C D B B C F C A C C
Jule Zoeller PG Fr C A B A C C D B C C A C
Kathryn Owensby PG Fr B B A B A C F F D D C D
Caitlin Foster PG Fr D C B B C A F C D B B D
Lisa Robertson SG So C A B B D C D F D C F C
Erika Marrero C So A D B F C C C A A C F C
Melissa Aultman SF Fr B C D C D D B C A C F F



The debate in Portland is whether to hire one of the young assistants in a "head coach in waiting" scenario, which Sue Muldowney favors or hiring someone from the legions of coaches who'd want to take over a Top 5 program.

It'll be a debate the athletic department will mull most of the year, because it'll be hard to know until the post-season ends whether or not, who might be available and what kind of program they're taking over. A lot easier to inherit the national champs over a team that everyone expects to win.

[Young Drachma]

This Indiana State v. Portland regular season rematch was completely bananas, so much so that I'm posting the box score.


Indiana State 87, Portland 86

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indiana State (1-0, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Rose Vuong C 40 4-6 3-3 2 5 0 3 11
Fatoumata Welch PF 32 3-7 0-0 3 6 1 2 6
Sage Harrison SF 32 7-12 0-1 2 6 0 3 14
Izzy Thomas SG 34 7-14 0-0 1 3 1 5 14
Birdie Mitchell PG 39 10-17 7-8 3 9 13 3 29
Cali Wright PG 26 2-5 2-2 1 1 0 2 6
Charleigh Moon PG 13 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 0 2
Sarah Boyer SG 8 2-3 1-2 1 5 0 1 5
Erika Williams PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0

Turnovers: 19 (R.Vuong 4, F.Welch 3, S.Harrison 2,
I.Thomas 3, B.Mitchell 4, C.Moon 2, S.Boyer 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (F.Welch 1, B.Mitchell 1)
Steals: 10 (R.Vuong 2, S.Harrison 1, B.Mitchell 5,
C.Wright 1, S.Boyer 1)
3P FGs: 2-11 (R.Vuong 0-2, F.Welch 0-1, I.Thomas 0-3,
B.Mitchell 2-2, C.Wright 0-1, C.Moon 0-1, S.Boyer 0-1)

Portland (2-2, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Brianna King C 25 2-4 3-5 0 4 2 3 8
J. Ohalloran PF 23 2-2 1-2 0 4 2 4 6
Ivy Kamp SF 39 14-21 2-3 2 6 2 3 32
Kaylynn Mendiola SG 35 4-9 3-4 2 5 2 2 13
Jessica Ledesma PG 40 3-16 0-0 3 6 7 2 8
Jamie Carrizales PF 33 3-4 1-2 1 3 0 2 7
Bailey Bennett PG 14 1-1 0-0 0 1 5 1 2
Jule Zoeller SF 6 3-3 0-0 0 1 0 1 8
Kathryn Owensby PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Erika Marrero C 9 1-1 0-0 1 1 2 1 2

Turnovers: 21 (J.Ohalloran 1, I.Kamp 2, K.Mendiola 6,
J.Ledesma 9, J.Carrizales 1, J.Zoeller 1, E.Marrero 1)
Blocked Shots: 3 (I.Kamp 3)
Steals: 6 (J.Ohalloran 1, I.Kamp 2, J.Carrizales 2,
E.Marrero 1)
3P FGs: 10-31 (B.King 1-2, J.Ohalloran 1-1, I.Kamp 2-5,
K.Mendiola 2-6, J.Ledesma 2-15, J.Zoeller 2-2)

Player of Game: PG Birdie Mitchell (IN ST)

[Young Drachma]

Any thoughts that Portland was going to roll through the regular season en route to a fairy tale ending was simply not the case. Through January 30th, here's what we're looking at:


PORTLAND PILOTS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/11/52 Kent State 14-5 93 W 78-71 1-0
11/12/52 Ohio State 12-7 1 L 86-74 1-1
11/13/52 Syracuse 10-10 268 W 83-65 2-1
11/17/52 #1 Indiana State 17-1 6 L 87-86 2-2
11/22/52 at Purdue 12-7 94 W 90-80 3-2
11/24/52 at Southern California 13-5 34 W 77-68 4-2
11/26/52 at #10 Nebraska 15-3 18 W 65-59 5-2
11/29/52 Sacramento State 8-10 326 W 90-61 6-2
12/01/52 at Texas A&M-CC 10-14 239 W 90-81 7-2
12/04/52 at #7 UCLA 15-2 16 L 86-60 7-3
12/07/52 at Nebraska State 12-8 57 L 72-62 7-4
12/12/52 Stanford 12-6 19 L 101-86 7-5
12/19/52 Oregon 3-14 173 L 85-70 7-6
12/29/52 at Oregon State 11-6 134 W 83-70 8-6
01/03/53 at Washington 12-6 43 L 80-76 8-7
01/09/53 Gonzaga 10-9 124 L 91-83 8-8 (0-1)
01/11/53 #3 Pacific 18-1 7 L 69-57 8-9 (0-2)
01/16/53 at Saint Mary's 10-10 147 W 70-66 9-9 (1-2)
01/18/53 San Diego 14-5 50 L 84-83 9-10 (1-3)
01/23/53 Brigham Young 10-9 303 W 91-78 10-10 (2-3)
01/25/53 at Denver 11-8 83 L 96-88 10-11 (2-4)
01/28/53 at Green Bay 6-13 321 W 88-58 11-11
01/30/53 at Seattle 15-6 76
02/01/53 at San Diego 14-5 50
02/06/53 at #3 Pacific 18-1 7
02/08/53 at Santa Clara 10-9 139
02/13/53 Denver 11-8 83
02/15/53 Pepperdine 14-5 39
02/20/53 Loyola Marymount 6-14 340
02/22/53 at San Francisco 4-14 397
02/27/53 Saint Mary's 10-10 147
03/01/53 at Gonzaga 10-9 124



The message around Portland is not a particularly happy one right now. Lots of fans are calling for Sue Muldowney to step down immediately to salvage this season. People think that she's simply not able to reach her players and that the team and the season -- coupled with her inexperienced staff -- are starting to show. The athletic director has ignored the calls, saying that things will be fine and that this kind of experience is to be expected when you're a young team playing in a tough conference with a high RPI.

But it remains to be seen if the team even makes the NCAAs at this point. It's probably too soon to panic, but suffice to say that things are not going according to plan right now.

[Young Drachma]

So Portland heads into the conference tournament at 20-12 with a date against Seattle (21-11) in the 1st round. A loss would probably bump us just out of the tournament. As it stands right now, Bubble Watch has us in. With a SOS of 14 (higher than anyone in the WCC) we're probably safe, but...a win for sure would seal it and naturally we'd just like to see them win the whole damn thing and leave nothing to chance.

We blow out Seattle 100-52, but the following night lose to #1 seed Pacific 88-74. Bubble Watch says that we're now a 3-bid league with all three of us as locks for the tournament. With our RPI (16) and SOS, we ought to be fine. We might be in decent position seeding wise to pull an upset or two, because of how stuff works. But we'll find out how Selection Sunday goes.

[Young Drachma]

NCAA TOURNAMENT

We end up with an 8-seed in the Midwest region. Our first round date is against Missouri (20-11). The winner gets a date with the winner of UCLA (27-4)/UNC Wilmington. I give this game credit, it's clearly interested in drama.

The truth is, we might be a bit young this year to pull this all off. I like our chances in theory, but in practice...the ballclub might just be a bit too wishy washy to really go deep into this thing.

Part of me wants to just wait until tomorrow because if I sim it all now, it's literally going to be the end. So let's call it a night now.

[Young Drachma]

1st round: Portland 91, 9) Missouri 80
2nd round: Portland 94 1) UCLA 86
Sweet 16: Portland 83 4) TCU 72
Elite 8: vs. Portland 99 2) Indiana State 62

Final Four: 1) South Carolina 10) Tennessee 1) West Virginia 8) Portland

[Young Drachma]

As the confetti fell to the ground, Sue Muldowney had to reflect on how far she'd come. Never did she think at age 75 that she'd be coaching a team that made it all the way to the national championship game twice.


South Carolina 57, Portland 55

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Portland (26-14, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
J. Ohalloran C 24 1-7 0-0 2 7 1 2 2
Brianna King PF 26 0-2 0-0 1 5 0 2 0
Ivy Kamp C 35 7-16 0-0 2 8 3 1 16
Kaylynn Mendiola SG 34 8-24 1-1 3 6 2 4 21
Jessica Ledesma PG 32 3-8 1-2 2 8 7 0 9
Bailey Bennett PG 8 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Jule Zoeller SF 26 1-6 2-2 0 5 1 2 4
Kathryn Owensby PF 6 0-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 0
Lisa Robertson SG 5 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 3
Erika Marrero C 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0

Turnovers: 12 (J.Ohalloran 2, I.Kamp 3, K.Mendiola 1,
J.Ledesma 1, B.Bennett 1, J.Zoeller 2, K.Owensby 1,
L.Robertson 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (I.Kamp 1)
Steals: 8 (J.Ohalloran 2, I.Kamp 1, K.Mendiola 1,
J.Ledesma 3, J.Zoeller 1)
3P FGs: 9-38 (J.Ohalloran 0-4, I.Kamp 2-4, K.Mendiola
4-17, J.Ledesma 2-6, J.Zoeller 0-4, K.Owensby 0-1,
L.Robertson 1-2)

South Carolina (33-5, 13-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Sidney Webb C 28 10-19 4-6 4 9 0 2 24
Madison Dix PF 26 2-4 0-0 5 12 3 1 4
Stacy Webb SF 31 5-13 4-5 1 6 0 3 14
Kiara Coburn SG 35 1-10 0-0 4 9 4 1 2
Sofia Winkelman PG 28 0-6 0-0 0 0 3 0 0
Janiyah Welsh PG 15 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 1 3
Melissa Milton SG 10 2-2 0-0 0 1 0 1 6
Brittney Tijerina PF 23 1-5 0-0 1 12 3 0 2
Olivia Phillips PF 2 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 2
Devyn Ellinger SF 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Turnovers: 16 (S.Webb 2, M.Dix 3, S.Webb 4, K.Coburn 3,
S.Winkelman 3, B.Tijerina 1)
Blocked Shots: 7 (S.Webb 3, S.Webb 1, B.Tijerina 3)
Steals: 3 (M.Dix 1, S.Webb 2)
3P FGs: 3-10 (K.Coburn 0-3, S.Winkelman 0-3, J.Welsh
1-2, M.Milton 2-2)

Player of Game: C Sidney Webb (SC)



And while the girls at South Carolina celebrated the first title in school history, she felt nothing but positive feelings for her team comprised entirely of underclassmen, most of whom were on the team that managed to do the same thing in last year's final. Her fab frosh team was going to come back reloaded with a new coach and be prepared to do great things.

She hoped with a coach who she'd had some hand in influencing over the years. "I don't think they have to go to my coaching tree. But I have to say if they did, we've got an impressive array of candidates for them to choose from including the three girls on the bench right now."

Despite some who believed that at 1390 wins, she'd come back to get to 1400, she said that this was truly the end. The end to a career that few could've forseen from the outset.

She started her career chasing an all-time legend and ended up with a career that many will look to follow and find very difficult -- if impossible -- to duplicate.


COACH DETAILS

Sue Muldowney - Head Coach - Portland
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age: 76
High School: Highlands Ranch High School
Hometown: Highlands Ranch, CO
Alma Mater: Wisconsin-Green Bay

Career Record: 1390 - 293


Coaching History:
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Season Team Position W L CW CL Postseason
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2052 Portland Head Coach 26 14 11 5 Loss in NCAA Championship Game
2051 Portland Head Coach 32 8 14 2 Loss in NCAA Championship Game
2050 UCLA Head Coach 28 6 17 1 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2049 Texas A&M-CC Head Coach 13 19 8 6 No Postseason
2048 Texas A&M-CC Head Coach 13 18 9 11 No Postseason
2047 Texas A&M-CC Head Coach 16 13 9 11 No Postseason
2046 Texas A&M-CC Head Coach 19 11 14 6 Loss in WNIT Preliminary Round
2038 Nebraska Head Coach 31 5 15 3 NCAA Champion
2037 Southern California Head Coach 28 6 14 4 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2036 Southern California Head Coach 29 5 16 2 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2035 Southern California Head Coach 34 3 16 2 NCAA Champion
2034 Nebraska State Head Coach 31 4 14 2 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2033 Nebraska State Head Coach 29 7 16 4 Loss in NCAA Elite Eight
2032 Nebraska State Head Coach 32 3 20 0 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2031 Nebraska State Head Coach 27 9 14 6 Loss in NCAA Championship Game
2030 Nebraska State Head Coach 32 3 19 1 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2029 Nebraska State Head Coach 35 3 19 1 Loss in NCAA Championship Game
2028 Nebraska State Head Coach 34 5 14 2 NCAA Champion
2027 Nebraska State Head Coach 30 3 15 1 Loss in NCAA Round 1
2026 Nebraska State Head Coach 36 2 15 1 Loss in NCAA Championship Game
2025 Nebraska State Head Coach 34 6 13 3 Loss in NCAA Final Four
2024 Nebraska State Head Coach 37 3 14 2 NCAA Champion
2023 Nebraska State Head Coach 38 1 15 1 NCAA Champion
2022 Nebraska State Head Coach 37 2 16 0 NCAA Champion
2021 Nebraska State Head Coach 34 2 15 1 Loss in NCAA Elite Eight
2020 Nebraska State Head Coach 25 10 9 7 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2019 Nebraska State Head Coach 17 14 8 8 No Postseason
2018 Nebraska State Head Coach 29 5 15 1 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2017 Nebraska State Head Coach 37 1 15 1 NCAA Champion
2016 Nebraska State Head Coach 35 1 16 0 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2015 Nebraska State Head Coach 38 0 16 0 NCAA Champion
2014 Nebraska State Head Coach 35 2 15 1 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2013 Nebraska State Head Coach 34 6 13 3 Loss in NCAA Championship Game
2012 Nebraska State Head Coach 35 3 14 2 NCAA Champion
2011 Nebraska State Head Coach 31 3 16 0 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2010 Nebraska State Head Coach 35 2 15 1 Loss in NCAA Elite Eight
2009 Nebraska State Head Coach 29 8 11 5 Loss in NCAA Elite Eight
2008 Nebraska State Head Coach 24 9 11 5 Loss in NCAA Round of 32
2007 Nebraska State Head Coach 33 3 16 0 Loss in NCAA Elite Eight
2006 Nebraska State Head Coach 33 2 16 0 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2005 Nebraska State Head Coach 29 8 15 1 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2004 Nebraska State Head Coach 22 15 10 6 Loss in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2003 Nebraska State Head Coach 22 15 12 4 Loss in A4 Finals
2002 Nebraska State Head Coach 37 1 15 1 NCAA Champion
2001 Nebraska State Head Coach 24 10 14 2 Loss in NCAA Round 1
2000 Nebraska State Head Coach 27 6 0 0 Loss in WNIT Round 2
1999 Nebraska State Head Coach 24 8 0 0 Loss in WNIT Round 2

Awards & Achievements:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season Award
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2051 Conference Coach of the Year (West Coast Conference)
2051 West Coast Conference Champion
2050 Conference Coach of the Year (Pacific-12 Conference)
2050 Pacific-12 Conference Champion
2046 Conference Coach of the Year (Southland Conference)
2038 NCAA Champion
2036 Conference Coach of the Year (Pacific-12 Conference)
2036 Pacific-12 Conference Champion
2035 Conference Coach of the Year (Pacific-12 Conference)
2035 NCAA Champion
2035 Pacific-12 Conference Champion
2033 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2033 Big 12 Conference Champion
2032 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2032 Big 12 Conference Champion
2030 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2030 Big 12 Conference Champion
2029 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2029 Big 12 Conference Champion
2028 NCAA Champion
2028 Big 12 Conference Champion
2027 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2027 Big 12 Conference Champion
2026 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2026 Big 12 Conference Champion
2025 Big 12 Conference Champion
2024 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2024 NCAA Champion
2024 Big 12 Conference Champion
2023 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2023 NCAA Champion
2023 Big 12 Conference Champion
2022 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2022 NCAA Champion
2022 Big 12 Conference Champion
2021 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2021 Big 12 Conference Champion
2018 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2018 Big 12 Conference Champion
2017 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2017 NCAA Champion
2017 Big 12 Conference Champion
2016 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2016 Big 12 Conference Champion
2015 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2015 NCAA Champion
2015 Big 12 Conference Champion
2014 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2014 Big 12 Conference Champion
2012 Conference Coach of the Year (Big 12 Conference)
2012 NCAA Champion
2012 Big 12 Conference Champion
2011 Conference Coach of the Year (Missouri Valley Conference)
2011 Missouri Valley Conference Champion
2010 Missouri Valley Conference Champion
2007 Conference Coach of the Year (Major Conference)
2007 Major Conference Champion
2006 Conference Coach of the Year (Major Conference)
2006 Major Conference Champion
2005 Major Conference Champion
2002 Conference Coach of the Year (Western Athletic Conference)
2002 NCAA Champion
2002 Western Athletic Conference Champion
2001 Western Athletic Conference Champion

Job Movement:
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Season Move
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2051 Hired by Portland (Head Coach)
2051 Quit job with UCLA
2050 Hired by UCLA (Head Coach)
2050 Quit job with Texas A&M-CC
2046 Hired by Texas A&M-CC (Head Coach)
2039 Quit job with Nebraska
2038 Hired by Nebraska (Head Coach)
2038 Quit job with Southern California
2035 Hired by Southern California (Head Coach)
2035 Quit job with Nebraska State
1999 Hired by Nebraska State (Head Coach)



PORTLAND PILOTS Schedule

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/11/52 Kent State 25-9 47 W 78-71 1-0
11/12/52 Ohio State 17-14 24 L 86-74 1-1
11/13/52 Syracuse 16-15 107 W 83-65 2-1
11/17/52 #1 Indiana State 33-3 3 L 87-86 2-2
11/22/52 at Purdue 22-11 41 W 90-80 3-2
11/24/52 at #10 Southern California 28-8 9 W 77-68 4-2
11/26/52 at #7 Nebraska 28-6 14 W 65-59 5-2
11/29/52 Sacramento State 12-17 382 W 90-61 6-2
12/01/52 at Texas A&M-CC 16-18 184 W 90-81 7-2
12/04/52 at #5 UCLA 28-5 4 L 86-60 7-3
12/07/52 at Nebraska State 14-15 108 L 72-62 7-4
12/12/52 Stanford 23-12 17 L 101-86 7-5
12/19/52 Oregon 6-23 215 L 85-70 7-6
12/29/52 at Oregon State 18-13 94 W 83-70 8-6
01/03/53 at Washington 16-15 81 L 80-76 8-7
01/09/53 Gonzaga 20-13 72 L 91-83 8-8 (0-1)
01/11/53 #11 Pacific 26-6 18 L 69-57 8-9 (0-2)
01/16/53 at Saint Mary's 11-20 227 W 70-66 9-9 (1-2)
01/18/53 #16 San Diego 23-9 30 L 84-83 9-10 (1-3)
01/23/53 Brigham Young 12-17 309 W 91-78 10-10 (2-3)
01/25/53 at Denver 17-12 86 L 96-88 10-11 (2-4)
01/28/53 at Green Bay 10-19 339 W 88-58 11-11
01/30/53 at Seattle 21-12 84 W 77-64 12-11 (3-4)
02/01/53 at #16 San Diego 23-9 30 W 93-75 13-11 (4-4)
02/06/53 at #11 Pacific 26-6 18 W 76-61 14-11 (5-4)
02/08/53 at Santa Clara 13-16 236 W 77-63 15-11 (6-4)
02/13/53 Denver 17-12 86 W 83-82 16-11 (7-4)
02/15/53 Pepperdine 18-12 93 L 93-88 16-12 (7-5)
02/20/53 Loyola Marymount 9-21 333 W 80-63 17-12 (8-5)
02/22/53 at San Francisco 8-20 389 W 89-45 18-12 (9-5)
02/27/53 Saint Mary's 11-20 227 W 85-60 19-12 (10-5)
03/01/53 at Gonzaga 20-13 72 W 78-72 20-12 (11-5)
03/07/53 vs. Seattle 21-12 84 W 100-52 21-12
03/08/53 vs. #11 Pacific 26-6 18 L 88-74 21-13
03/21/53 vs. Missouri 20-12 52 W 91-80 22-13
03/23/53 vs. #5 UCLA 28-5 4 W 94-86 23-13
03/27/53 vs. #15 Texas Christian 26-8 11 W 83-72 24-13
03/29/53 vs. #1 Indiana State 33-3 3 W 99-62 25-13
04/05/53 vs. #2 West Virginia 35-4 1 W 77-72 26-13

Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
04/07/53 vs. #6 South Carolina 33-5 2 L 57-55 26-14



PORTLAND PILOTS Averages

Player Pos GP GS Min Pts Orb Reb Ast Stl Blk To Fls +/-
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Kaylynn Mendiola SG 40 40 31.8 20.7 1.6 5.1 2.5 1.4 0.3 2.5 2.4 8.0
Ivy Kamp SF 40 40 32.9 18.9 2.7 8.5 2.5 1.4 2.2 3.0 2.4 8.4
Jessica Ledesma PG 40 40 31.3 12.9 1.3 4.6 6.9 1.6 0.6 2.7 2.4 6.7
Jennifer Ohalloran PF 40 40 24.1 8.2 1.6 5.0 1.1 0.6 0.2 1.2 3.1 5.4
Jule Zoeller SF 40 0 14.9 4.9 0.6 2.5 1.3 0.6 0.2 1.1 1.6 3.0
Brianna King C 40 40 25.0 4.8 1.3 4.8 1.0 0.6 0.2 1.3 2.7 4.2
Bailey Bennett PG 40 0 10.8 2.8 0.6 1.0 1.6 0.5 0.1 0.6 0.9 0.2
Jamie Carrizales PF 35 0 13.4 2.6 1.5 3.3 0.5 0.4 0.1 0.5 1.5 1.2
Lisa Robertson SG 24 0 6.5 2.3 0.2 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.6 0.8 -0.6
Kathryn Owensby PF 32 0 6.7 2.3 0.2 0.8 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.4 0.8 0.3
Erika Marrero C 38 0 8.5 2.1 0.7 2.6 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.9 0.4
Caitlin Foster PG 7 0 1.1 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0
Melissa Aultman SF 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

[lcjjdnh]

Drats! Fun read, though.

[Cap Ologist]

Enjoyed it very much.

[SkippyDies]

sequel?