At DePauw University's Elite Eight matchup with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday night, I saw a lot of uncharacteristic things about the Whitewater team and some things that filled me with negative emotions.
It was odd to see the Tigers being outclassed by their opponents, and it was difficult to see the red eyes of Coach Kris Huffman and her seniors. It was then even harder to see senior Mary Merg of the Warhawks wearing the Neal Fieldhouse net around her neck and to hear her speak so confidently about her team's victory.
From the beginning of Saturday's match up, I could tell that the Whitewater players wanted to win more than the Tigers did.
Usually it isn't a good sign when a team has only a few players who score the majority of the points. When seniors Merg and Kristen Ruchti combined to score all but seven of the Warhawks' first half points, it seemed like Whitewater could survive with that system for the remainder of the game.
DePauw started slowly flexing their muscles and pulling away later in the game. My jaw dropped when I saw the Warhawks go on the 12-2 run that would ultimately put the game out of reach for the Tigers.
From there, Whitewater killed DePauw's spirit. The Tigers were not able to close the gap to less than 10 and never really gave the fans any hope for a comeback.
Whatever the Tigers did, the Warhawks were able to counter every Tiger move. Together, Ruchti and Merg single-handedly killed the Tigers and made them look completely different than the national championship team of a year ago.
The bombshell of the night, for me, occurred when the defeated Tigers slowly filed into the media room. I could tell how hard it was for Huffman to sit at the table and address the ends of the careers for seniors Alex Gasaway, Alison Stephens and Ali Ross, who all sat to her immediate left. Watching the four of them sit at the front of the room filled me with sadness, and I found myself getting caught in the depression.
As a first-year, I only had the privilege of seeing this class of seniors for one season; however, their numbers over the last four years show just how dominant they were.
The three players mentioned above along with seniors Erin McGinnis and Ann Sarkisian totaled 116 wins in their four-year careers. Ross, Gasaway and junior Savannah Trees all eclipsed the 1000-point plateau, and Stephens collected the most rebounds in a single season this year with over 290.
When Whitewater head coach, Keri Carollo came into the room followed by Ruchti and Merg, I grew somewhat angry. I was already a little upset at the way Merg handled herself during the game. She played a very physical style, which is fine, but she crossed a line during the game.
She and junior Hannah Douglas got tangled up fighting for the ball. Merg continued to throw elbows and shout expletives even after the whistle had blown. Also, late in the game, when her team had a comfortable lead, she danced mockingly after a made free throw adding insult to injury. I understand being excited about advancing to the Final Four, but she went too far.
When Merg came into the room for the press conference, she entered wearing the Neal Fieldhouse net around her neck and made a purposeful statement. I became even more annoyed and upset when she cockily said that Whitewater was looking forward to enacting revenge on the team that defeated the Warhawks in the national title game a year ago.
"I think it made it even more special that we lost to them last year in the championship game," Merg said. "I mean this is the one team I wanted to face. I knew our team could come in here and do this as long as we stuck together. We wanted to face DePauw so bad, and it's great that we got the opportunity."
There will be some significant turnover to the DePauw starting lineup next year. Trees and Douglas will be the only returning starters and Huffman will need to look for a new starting front-court with the loss of Gasaway and Stephens.
However, if the 17 returning Tigers are in need of any motivation for next season, they should look no further than Merg's quote for inspiration.