“That’s in movies,” NU coach June Olkowski said. “We don’t do that rah-rah thing.”
The Cats kept their Senior Day festivities low-key and mostly behind locker room doors, but there’s no denying the emotion felt by the four NU seniors playing their last home game Sunday.
“I can’t describe how I felt when that final buzzer sounded,” senior Tami Sears said after the Cats’ 69-52 loss to Indiana. “It was like nothing that I’ve ever experienced and nothing that I’ll ever experience again.”
Sears, Dana Leonard, Becky Fisher and Chala Holland were honored before the game in a short ceremony. The seniors were introduced with members of their families, and their coach handed them flowers, typical of an NU Senior Day.
But, according to Sears, the public celebration lacked the emotion that the players reserved for a pregame locker room presentation: The four seniors composed a poem that they shared with their teammates before the game.
“It just hit me right then,” Leonard said. “It was one of the last times I’ll ever be in that locker room with everyone at a home game, and I just broke down.”
Olkowski gave Fisher the first start of her NU career for the occasion, and Holland was on the floor for the game’s final minutes.
Leonard also took the court for the opening tipoff for the fifth game in a row after mononucleosis had robbed her of her starter status for much of the season.
Sears, who has started every game since recovering from leg stress fractures in December, played 27 minutes and led the Cats in scoring with 14 points.
The four seniors saw little reward at the end of their careers for four years of dedication, as they struggled through an unprecedented 0-16 conference season.
“There have been times at practice when I’ve questioned why I’m here, and it’s frustrating,” Sears said. “But then I look back at everything that basketball has brought me.”
Both Sears and Leonard maintained that they have no regrets despite the team’s winless woes this season.
“My sophomore year I wanted to transfer, and that was kind of immature of me,” Leonard said. “But I stuck through it, and Coach talked me into staying. And I would not trade that for anything. Northwestern is my life, and it will continue to be my life next year.”
Although they’ve played their last game at Welsh-Ryan Arena, the four seniors still have at least one opportunity to grab another win — something they haven’t seen since Dec. 21.
The Big Ten tournament kicks off in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Thursday, offering the Cats a clean slate for the first time since the season opened in November.
But Leonard insisted that the tournament won’t be her final appearance.
“I’m going to be the No. 1 superfan behind their bench next year,” she said. “They think they lost me, but they haven’t.”
