Dream season ends in OT

In many ways the challenge resembled their entire season. Picked in the preseason to finish seventh in an eight-team conference, the Oberlin women's basketball team had gone on to win a school-record 15 games. Seeded fifth in the NCAC conference tournament, they had battled their way to earn a semifinal game against top-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University, who had beaten them by 23 points on the Yeowomen's home floor mere days earlier. Bearing the knowledge that the game was to be played within the formidable confines of the same Ricky Arena where the Bishops commanded a 12-1 home record, one could forgive Vegas if the odds appeared to be once again stacked against the women.

But with one win separating them from a chance to play for an invitation to the big dance, the NCAA Division III tournament, the Oberlin women decided to make one point unequivocally clear: they were NOT to be regarded as underdogs. This game was not to be David versus Goliath, but rather a contest between two championship-caliber teams. As junior point guard Chamia Peterson had said after their previous defeat to the Bishops: "[Ohio Wesleyan] is a good team, but I still believe that we're the better team."

Rather than overmatched, the Oberlin strode onto the floor with the confident look of 14 hardwood warriors. And it was a battle from the opening tip-off.

Opening in a three-quarter court 2-2-1 trapping press to slow the quick Bishop guards down, the Yeowomen relied on relentless man-to-man defensive pressure to keep Ohio Wesleyan off-balance offensively. On the offensive end, Oberlin exploited the Wesleyan man-to-man defense with offensive overloads to battle to a 12-11 lead 5 minutes into the half. Then, in the first of the many spurts of the evening, sophomore post Heather Barbee and first-year power forward Raegan Johnson decided to break open the game. Powered by a soft-corner jumpshot apiece in the half-court set, Barbee also hit a layup, soon to be answered by a Johnson coast-to-coast driving lay-in. With 11:49 remaining in the half the Yeomen found themselves up 20-15. Needing a run of their own, Wesleyan responded with an 11-0 spurt, about half of which was scored after Oberlin dropped out of its press into half-court pressure.

With the seams of Oberlin's game plan quickly coming apart, junior wing Shakila Williams scored on a vicious driving layup to spark the Oberlin comeback attempt. A few seconds later first-year guard and team-leading scorer Nzinga Broussard broke free from an aggressive Bishop defense focused on stopping her dribble penetration to score her first point of the evening. After a half-court isolation play, Johnson had posted her 11th point of the half and the Yeomen had pulled to within three points at the 4:00 mark.

Keyed by foul shots, Wesleyan pulled out to an eight-point lead with 1:08 remaining in the half. Determined to cut the lead before halftime, sophomore Rachel Barbee made her way to the charity stripe, where she converted the first of her two shots and her sister rebounded and put back the second. After Johnson hit a corner jumper with 13 seconds left, the Yeomen went into the lockerroom down three points.

Worried by Oberlin's offensive play in the first half, Wesleyan opened the second with a 1-3-1 halfcourt trap. Exhibiting the composure and intensity that earned her all-conference honors last year, sophomore guard Regina Respert took charge. Finding the cracks in the Wesleyan defense, Respert hit a driving layup and a soft-corner jumpshot to pull the Yeowomen to within one point, 38-37.

Respert described her strong play in the game: "I felt loose in practice [all week.] Me and Shakila both practiced that way, and the game it reflected it. I just felt so loose, Shakila felt like she couldn't miss. I felt like nobody could stop me."