
Western Carolina's Kristen Feemster shares her thoughts following Monday night's loss in the championship game of the Southern Conference tournament.
We didn't get back from our game against Chattanooga in Charleston until 2:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. I had just enough time to take a nap and wake up for my 9:30 class. Being a college athlete is fun but it has its hard times. We stayed on campus during spring break to prepare for the tournament. Every team we played wanted to win. Every game was a battle.
We played with so much heart in the championship game and lost. It hurts to think about how bad I know we all wanted to win, especially the seniors. As soon as the game ended, I had flashbacks of our wins against Louisville, Middle Tennessee and when we swept the teams at the tournament in Hawaii. It's hard to accept the fact that after all our hard work, our chances of getting a bid to the NCAA tournament are not very good.
Whether it's the WNIT or the NCAA, this team has been given an opportunity to continue doing what we love - play - and we're grateful. We were given two days off to recuperate physically and emotionally from the game Monday night. The love and support of our fans that made the trip to Charleston and the simple, yet kind, comments from those on campus have helped us realize that our hard work, effort and ability has not gone unnoticed. The loss to Chattanooga will not handicap us. It will only add fuel to the postseason fire!