For as long as the Wyoming Cowgirls are playing in the Women's National Invitation Tournament, expect to hear the right things from head coach Joe Legerski and his players
The Cowgirls are just happy to still be playing.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to play at this time of the season,” Legerski said in announcing Wednesday night's home WNIT opener with Portland State. “This now makes five out of the last six years that the Wyoming program has played in postseason and we look forward to the challenges ahead. The ability to host a game reflects the commitment by our administration and our great fan support.”
Legerski said it all in that quote.
1. Not all teams are playing at this time of the year.
2. This just shows how successful the program has been under Legerski, a UW graduate and Rock Springs native.
3. It takes a good team to advance in the tournament, with the 2007 WNIT title the perfect example.
4. Wyoming's outstanding home support will likely mean the Cowgirls will be at home as long as they play. Again, the sellout in the 2007 WNIT title game against Wisconsin is a perfect example. In a national invitation tournament attendance is what it all about.
Legerski and his players will say all of the above before and after the game against Portland State, as they should. What choice do they have? As they say, it is what it is.
At the same time, you will likely still hear a tint of disappointment in their voices … as there should be. Instead of preparing for the WNIT, Legerski and his Cowgirls would prefer to be preparing for the NCAA tournament. That's a given.
When you look back at the season, with seniors Aubrey Vandiver, Hillary Carlson, Randi Richardson and Jade Kennedy leading the way, this was a NCAA team. One can only ask, “what if Emma Langford had stayed at UW instead of opting to play professionally?" It's a legitimate question and it would be accurate to believe that the Cowgirls would be playing in the NCAAs if Langford had stayed.
That's not a knock on the players would stepped up to replace Langford. Sophomore Chaundra Sewell had a breakout season and Kennedy showed signs of being a go-to player. But there's no doubt that Langford would have made the Cowgirls a better team.
Inconsistency, however, did hurt the the team that still is 22-8 on the season. Wyoming's 12-4 MWC mark showed that the Cowgirls were the third best team in a conference that was down this year. They were swept by BYU and TCU, the top two teams.
With that said, the Cowgirls were still in a good position to get a NCAA bid with a strong showing at the MWC tournament. Once again, that didn't happen. After a first-round bye, Wyoming was knocked off by New Mexico, a team it had defeated by double digits twice this season. UW is now 3-12 all-time in the tournament.
As it turned out, the tournament was set up for the Cowgirls to win, as both BYU and TCU lost as well. Utah, which was 15-16 going in, won the tournament and is the league's only representative in the NCAAs.
A prime opportunity wasted.
The Cowgirls are certainly disappointed. Who wouldn't be? Just how that disappointment affects them in the WNIT remains to be seen. Wyoming can take three roads down the tournament: 1. play to win it all, go out with a bang so to speak; 2. Use it as more experience for the younger players; 3. Play like they are still disappointed.
Chances are, all of the above will be brought up by the media or by Legerski as they go.
For the UW fans, it's another chance to keep cheering. Cowgirls faithful have always taken advantage of that opportunity, especially with the troubles of the men's program.
Don't be surprised that much of this disappointment disappears if the Cowgirls can make another historic run in the tournament. Will it be the same as 2007? Not quite. The circumstances are different. That 2007 tournament boomeranged the Cowgirls to a NCAA team in 2008. Next year will be a rebuilding year with the losses of the four outstanding seniors.
One thing you will hear fans standpoint this season is, "what is better, a WNIT run of several games or one game in the NCAA tournament -- the scenerio of 2007 and 2008? Hands down it is getting to the NCAAs, even if it is one and done.
That is why the end of this season turned disappointing, regardless of how long the Cowgirls season will now last.
Next year, however, we could be singing a different tune if a younger UW team earns a WNIT bid.
That's college basketball.
