Monday, March 16, 2009
During senior guard Ivana Catic’s four years at Kansas, the possibility of making the NCAA tournament come March has seemed as distant as her native Serbia.
Yet, there was Catic and the Jayhawks, eagerly watching the women’s NCAA tournament selection show on Monday night with the thought — the hope — of somehow sneaking into the field.
But as schools filled slots in the bracket, and the show neared its conclusion, Kansas’ dream of reaching the NCAA tournament finally came to an end.
“I tried so hard not to cry and keep my emotions in check,” Catic said.
“People threw their pens down, and it was a heartbreaker for everyone,” junior forward Danielle McCray said.
True, the Jayhawks appeared deeply disappointed with their exclusion from the NCAA tournament. But Kansas pointed the blame for that decision at its own shortcomings.
In a season marred by inconsistent play, Kansas dropped close nonconference games at Marquette and UCLA. Then the Jayhawks opened conference play with a 2-9 record, including resume-crushing losses at bottom dwellers Colorado and Missouri.
“I said ‘Pat yourselves on the back that you’re sweating today, that you have the opportunity to be nervous and wait for your name to come up,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said shortly after the selection show. “But then we have to kick ourselves in the pants that we didn’t position ourselves to take it out of someone’s hands and win a couple more.’”
Henrickson said the fact that Kansas (18-13, 6-10) finished two-games below .500 in conference play kept her team from making the NCAA tournament. She also pointed to a lack of a full resume from the entire season.
Kansas closed the regular season having won five of its last seven games, including victories against two nationally-ranked opponents, Baylor and Iowa State. Still, the Jayhawks looked negatively to the early portion of the conference season.
“We didn’t make the NCAA tournament and we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves,” Henrickson said. “We did some good things down the stretch. But as far as a full body of work, there are some missed opportunities.”
That same idea had been voiced throughout the duration of Kansas’ season. Now, the Jayhawks are eager to make sure another opportunity doesn’t slip away.
A few hours after the dust from the selection show settled, the Jayhawks earned a bid — and first round bye — in the 48-team Women’s National Invitational Tournament. Kansas will play its first game at home on March 23 against the winner of UC Riverside and Creighton.
“We’ll be sad tonight,” Catic said. “But we’ll wake up with optimism and even more hunger to win games and prove to everyone that we should have been in.”
— — Edited by Andrew Wiebe
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