32-1 and Not Done

Who doesn’t love perfection? And when it comes to sports, it is one of the rarest and most fulfilling feelings as a player and fan to be able to say that yes, in fact, our team didn’t lose a game this year. Also, though, not losing means you dealt with the least amount of adversity than any other team in your sport. We’ve always heard the clichés in sports, but difficulty and adversity do actually build character, make a team closer, and the goal that much more clear. Obviously it would have been nice to go into the tournament undefeated, but fate had something else in store for this team.

The Hail State Women will still be a top seed in the tournament, which in tournament history for men and women is crucial to making it deep. March is chock full of Cinderella stories and buzzer beaters, but more often than not the Final Four is full of 1 and 2 seeds. The fact that State also lost in a rematch of last year’s National Championship will provide all the motivation they need to go deep in the tournament. The women know they deserve a top seed and understand that they have a target on their back as one of the best teams in the country, but this loss could have actually been the best thing to happen to them. To go undefeated in the regular season only to lose in the conference championship game could actually be the perfect time for a loss.

They know now that they are mortal and can be beat which is actually a good motivating factor for any team because there are now ways they can be exploited and you don’t get that feedback from constantly winning. Now, with March Madness right around the corner and some much needed rest before the grind of the tournament, this will be a nice come back to earth period for the women in order to regroup to make another run to the Final Four. I have all the confidence in the world in Coach Schaefer and this highly talented group of women to make it back to the Championship Game and bring MSU their first ever national championship in any sport.