Never Say Never

A few days ago I wrote: 

The last home game for the CU Women's Basketball team was on Sunday and we braved the snow to get there and were rewarded with an exciting game.  It was tied at half time but then our team surged ahead and won by almost twenty points.  They have two more away games, but the season is over for me and Ben. 

That turned out to just not be true!

The CU Buffs played the two away games in Arizona, beating Arizona but losing to Arizona State.  

They then entered the PAC-12 conference tournament in Seattle with a ranking of ninth out of the twelve teams.  I didn't have any hope for their success but their coach felt differently, saying "We feel like we're playing some of our best basketball right now and now it's a matter of going out there and doing it in the tournament."   

Much to my surprise my team won its first tournament game, soundly beating the University of Southern California 75-63.   

Last night my team won its second tournament game, this one against Oregon State, ranked first in the conference.  About halfway through this game I realized that I could watch it on the PAC-12 website.   Much to my surprise, the Buffs were were winning!   It was one of those "heart attack" games that dominated the Buffs season, but in the end it was a good win, 68-65.  Ben & I whooped for joy!

For a number nine team to beat a number one team was quite an upset!  

The team attributed their win to their belief that they were getting better and better.  Here are some of their comments: 

"We had a lot of confidence.  We really don't view it too much of an upset because we knew it was something we've been capable of..."

"We just had the belief before we started."

"We never gave up on this game, mentally or physically." 

"It's all about surviving, and we survived."  

I don't know that thinking you are going to win means you will win, but I do believe in "Never say never."  The Buffs could have given up many times during the season and during these two games but they hung in there and kept trying.  

They play in the PAC-12 semifinals tonight and I can't wait to see what happens.