Definitely, definitely frustrating. Not as bad as 2011, where I really do think we should have won it all, and the Texas A&M game, and particularly the way we choked it away in the last two minutes, was so utterly painful.
However, we need to take the glass half full approach:
If someone had told me in December that we would get to the Final Four, based on who we brought back, how we played last season, and our early loss to Gonzaga, I would have said, "you're joking!"
If someone had told me we'd beat Notre Dame 500 miles from their home court, I would have said, "no way!"
If someone had asked me at the beginning of March if this is one of Tara's two best teams from 2000-present, I would have said, "not a chance!"
But we've only been to the title game twice since then, and those teams had Candice Wiggins, Jayne Appel, Kayla Pederson, Jeanette Pohlen, and Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike. Two WNBA #1 draft picks, a #3 draft pick, and three vets who played multiple seasons in the league. This team was grittier, tougher, and overall played better as a team, but realistically, we were not anywhere close to the talent to be a title game contender.
Yes, any time UConn isn't in the title game, it's a missed opportunity. But remember that Texas A&M went on to beat in the title game a Notre Dame team that had Skylar Diggins Devereaux Peters, Natalie Novosel, Kayla McBride, and Natalie Achonwa.
Yes, it's disappointing. But I'm thrilled to have had a sound basis to have hopeful expectations that could be dashed - when was the last time I was truly disappointed by our men's team? I can't even remember, because it's been so long since I expected much of anything at all...
However, we need to take the glass half full approach:
If someone had told me in December that we would get to the Final Four, based on who we brought back, how we played last season, and our early loss to Gonzaga, I would have said, "you're joking!"
If someone had told me we'd beat Notre Dame 500 miles from their home court, I would have said, "no way!"
If someone had asked me at the beginning of March if this is one of Tara's two best teams from 2000-present, I would have said, "not a chance!"
But we've only been to the title game twice since then, and those teams had Candice Wiggins, Jayne Appel, Kayla Pederson, Jeanette Pohlen, and Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike. Two WNBA #1 draft picks, a #3 draft pick, and three vets who played multiple seasons in the league. This team was grittier, tougher, and overall played better as a team, but realistically, we were not anywhere close to the talent to be a title game contender.
Yes, any time UConn isn't in the title game, it's a missed opportunity. But remember that Texas A&M went on to beat in the title game a Notre Dame team that had Skylar Diggins Devereaux Peters, Natalie Novosel, Kayla McBride, and Natalie Achonwa.
Yes, it's disappointing. But I'm thrilled to have had a sound basis to have hopeful expectations that could be dashed - when was the last time I was truly disappointed by our men's team? I can't even remember, because it's been so long since I expected much of anything at all...