History was made last night in Denver during the NCAA women’s basketball championship game.
I won’t bore you with the statistics, which I never remember anyway, but the Lady Bears from Baylor University demolished the Lady Irish from Notre Dame 80-61.
The Lady Bears became the first team ever to go 40 wins and no losses during a season; this was their second national title.
While it’s kind of exciting to witness history in the making, my heart aches for the Irish. Bringing a 35-3 record into the final (and besting a scrappy UConn team in the semifinals), the Lady Irish were hoping for a victory to ease the disappointment of losing last year’s championship to Texas A&M. A win also would have been their second championship (the first was in 2001).
It wasn’t to be.
Early in the game, the Irish led by a couple of points and was only down six at halftime. Typically, after a hesitant first half, they come out blazing for the second half.
Not last night.
They ran into foul trouble, their shots turned ice-cold, and their ability to grab rebounds proved nonexistent.
No wonder.
They were up against Baylor’s Brittney Griner, who stands 6’8″.
That’s six feet, eight inches!
Now everybody expects good basketball players to be tall, but Brittney is taller than the average male in the U.S. (5’9.4″).
She’s also GOOD.
She scored points from the floor, snatched rebounds, blocked Irish shots — in short, everything asked of her to bring her ‘A game’ to the finale.
And she did it with class. No trash-talk. No super-sized ego. Just praise for her teammates and Coach Kim Mulkey.
So, while it’s disappointing to lose — especially a national championship, especially for Notre Dame’s graduating seniors — if you have to lose, it’s palatable to lose to a team like the Lady Bears.
After all, I seriously doubt whether any team, men’s or women’s, could have bested them last night!
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
It is nice to see someone who is good at what they do and allows their talents alone to do the talking for them, isnt it?
It sure is!!
Wow! Brittney sure is tall! She sounds like a great player, one who can be a role model for youth and future players. Cool. 🙂
And young players need all the good role models they can get!
Sounds like a great game. Always hard to lose but I guess if you are going to lose it’s better to lose to a good team and good sports.
Love the names of both teams. You forgot to tell us who had the cuter uniforms! 😀
Definitely the Lady Irish in their white with Kelly green trim! They ALL paint their fingernails green, too, for luck, don’t you know! Something ugly about the Lady Bears’ neon yellow shoes, haha!
I don’t follow basketball, but that is one tall lady! Sorry your team lost 😦
Thanks, Janna. It was a sad day for the Irish — two losses back-to-back in the national championship game. Guess we’ll just have to say, Maybe next year!
Debbie, I’m sorry your Lady Irish lost but thrilled that women’s basketball is achieving recognition. Brittany Griner is truly a positive role model and and extraordinary basketball player.
Thanks for visiting and commenting, Kathy. It was a sad loss, as they’ll going to graduate a lot of seniors. Is that a new photo? Looks lovely, my friend. Happy Easter!
Debbie, I’m sorry the Lady Irish were not victorious but like Kathleen, I say yay for women “representing” in sports! Standing at five feet two inches, I have to say I’m quite envious of Brittney’s height! And I love that she’s so humble. You don’t see that too often in spots!
Somehow, I’d have thought you were taller, my friend! Must be because your “voice” provides such a commanding presence (that’s a good thing, you know!). I’m only 5’5.5″, and I’ve never seen a woman as tall as Brittney. Part of me wonders how she finds clothes to fit, when I have so much trouble with it!