Women's hoops closes the gap

In a year when the UConn Huskies set the women's college basketball winning- streak record at 70 games and Pat Summit coached her Tennessee Volunteers to victory for the 800th time, the Boston College women's basketball team continued its rise to national prominence with another successful campaign that ended in a Sweet 16 defeat at the hands of a hungry Connecticut team.

Heading into the season, Head Coach Cathy Inglese and her team had high expectations. With three NCAA appearances in the last four years under their belts, only further advancement into the tournament would suffice. Previous seasons had been stepping stones to success, but nothing could compare to the performance and progress made by the BC women's basketball team this season.

Instead of enjoying recent successes, the women's team continued its drive toward respectability. In fact, this year's success gained the respect of both fans and opponents alike, and the future has never looked brighter than here now at Chestnut Hill.

Another year and another step in the right direction seemed to be the motto of the women's basketball teamthis season. Following a 22-8 campaign in 2001-02, this year's squad (22-9; 11-4 Big East) returned three fifth-year seniors in Becky Gottstein, Brianne Stepherson, and Kim Mackie.

In addition, fourth-year seniors Alicia Shields and Adriana Spears were coming off improved seasons. Such experience and leadership aided the team in its growth as the season went along. While they put up laudable numbers, their contributions were not seen solely in the box scores.

Instead, they brought the intangibles that every winning team must have. Whether it was Stepherson's face guarding the opponents' best player or Becky Gottstein's undying hustle on the boards, the Eagles utilized their game experience to win consistently in a league that sent seven teams to the NCAA Tournament this year. Four of which advanced to the Sweet 16.

"This season was like a dream come true," said Gottstein. "To come from being the first tournament team in school history to playing in the Sweet 16 was amazing. There were bumps along the way, but we proved our toughness and grit."

Surely playing such a tough schedule wears at a team over the course of a season, but it was all those difficult contests in the conference that prepared the women for postseason play against the best from around the nation. Going toe-to-toe with the likes of Rutgers, Notre Dame, Villanova, and UConn only helped this year's team in growing as a unit that would need to be reckoned with come March. In short, its tough losses in the regular season translated into a mental toughness down the stretch.

When March finally came around, the battle-tested group was prepared for all that the mad month of March had to offer. While the team expected a berth despite losing in the Big East Conference Tournament to Virginia Tech (74-70 OT), the selection committee chose to make BC a number five seed. Such a high ranking exhibited how far the Eagles had come, but the NCAA did them no other favors in selecting the teams BC would have to play.

A first-round game with perennial-power Old Dominion on the Lady Monarchs' own home court proved to be a difficult assignment for BC. But in the end, junior Amber Jacobs was able to salvage a buzzer-beating shot that propelled the Eagles into the second round. Having defeated one of the best programs year in and year out in the first round, BC continued on to face another traditional powerhouse in the round of 32. The road to Atlanta would not be easy for the Eagles in 2003.

Highlight reels and all followed the Eagles' into their next match against the highly-touted Vanderbilt Commodores. Another game and another of Amber Jacobs' last-second heroic feats allowed the team to overcome Gottstein's free-throw collapse at the end of regulation. Suddenly the Eagles were the talk of the tournament.

The next step was uncharted territory. In fact, Inglese and her staff may have needed a map of the NCAA brackets because no BC team had ever advanced so far. BC had only heard of the Sweet 16 until this year, but its arrival as a successful program was cemented with its advancement to the third round.

No other women's basketball team in BC's history had staved off elimination longer. A mixture of luck and aggressive defense permitted the Eagles to finally make their mark as a team that will be on the radar for years to come.

While this year was impressive, next season will be much tougher, as the expectations that accompany a Sweet 16 appearance will be raised. Such consistency in the past few seasons will be expected to persist despite the departure of three fifth-year seniors. In fact, with their departures goes the leading scorer, leader in steals, as well as in assists, from this year's squad.

Inglese and her staff will have to hope that the development of leadership displayed by the seniors will trickle down to Jacobs, Jessalyn Deveny, and Clare Droesch. Their coming of age during this postseason will be heavily relied upon in the off-season and the year to come. "I am confident in handing the reigns over to Amber and Jess," said Gottstein.

Only time will tell if this year's Sweet 16 will be seen as the Promised Land or if it will be looked back on as a mere stepping stone to greater successes. Either way, BC fans have much to look forward to going into the 2003-04 season. UConn and Villanova can no longer be considered the only threats in the Big East; BC has recently joined their company on the top.