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Sunday, April 1
'She willed us to this win'
By Seth Wickersham
ESPN The Magazine
ST. LOUIS -- After the girl with the bum wheel had bolted the court, kissed every family member, grabbed a camera from her boyfriend, smiled at the nuns, and waved to all her native St. Louisians who came to cheer, there was only one person left to hug.
|  | | Niele Ivey, left, got a big welcome home when she arrived in St. Louis, and the smiles were even bigger when she won a national title Monday night.
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So, Niele Ivey, sprained ankle and all, ran to the center of the court and put a wrap around the woman who she's shared a heartbeat with for the past four years.
"I love you so much," Ivey told Irish assistant coach Coquese Washington. "Thank
you so much."
"I am so, so, so, so proud of you," Washington said, batting away a tear.
Only Washington would know. After all, she been a point guard, just like Ivey, and she's blown out her knee, just like Ivey, and she knows about being a leader in the locker room, just like Ivey.
Moments before Notre Dame took the court against Purdue, Ivey had the last word in the locker room. She had spent the previous 24 hours limping around, thanks to an ankle sprain suffered against Connecticut in the semifinal. She watched
Saturday's practice from the bench with her foot raise and iced. When practice ends, usually Ivey is the one leading the send-off cheer. When her teammates did it without her, she said, "What, you guys too good to come over here and do it over me?"
So before the biggest game of the fifth-year senior's life, she wasn't going to let the moment pass. She stood before her teammates, coaches and priests, and said,
"We've worked all year for this. All we have is one more -- and it's ours."
Then, naturally, she went out and missed her six of her first seven shots. The halftime sheet read: 2-for-9, four turnovers, Purdue by six. Her ankle was killing her. The air cast wasn't working. Her confidence wasn't, either. She's played in pain before -- she's blown out two knees in her career -- but she needed a boost.
Along came Washington, as usual. When Ivey came to Notre Dame, she went to Washington and said, "Make me a point guard." Washington didn't know. "She was good, but she didn't really have the skills to do it," she said. "I had my doubts."
The doubts tripled after the two knee injuries. Ivey didn't know if she'd be back, and if she were back, how would she play? But nobody dealt more hang-in-theres during those tear-filled days than Washington. "I knew what it was like to have your confidence crushed," Washington said. Together, they used their senses of humor to combat the fickle luck. The relationship formed a friendship. Said Ivey, "When I didn't have any confidence, Coquese was my role model. She taught me a lot about basketball, but more about myself."
So here came Washington, looking into her point guard's eyes, during the last halftime of Ivey's career, and dished her final assist. "Forget the ankle," she said. "Just play."
Just play. Four minutes into the half, Ivey drove for the first time all game, leapt to shoot, drew contract, dropped the basket, and landed on her bad ankle. No pain. She swished the free throw.
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She willed us to this
win. For her to do this in front of her home crowd makes it all the more
special. ” |
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— Notre Dame guard Karen Swanson on teammate Niele
Ivey |
Now, Notre Dame had its first lead, and while Purdue coach Kristy Curry saw her team regain the lead a few minutes later, she sensed she had her hands full, playing a recharged team with a recharged leader. "We didn't have the same intensity and energy," she said. "And Niele wasn't as tentative."
More Ivey. A layup to bring the Irish within five. A free throw to cut it to three. A steal and dish to Ruth Riley to tie at 57. Then, with two minutes left, she was hanging out underneath the basket when the ball found her open. She threw a shot up at the shot clock buzzer and hit it. Irish, 64-63.
After Riley swished two free throws and Boilermaker Katie Douglas' last-second shot went off the rip as time expired, the first one to leap with her hands in the air was the girl with the bum wheel. "She willed us to this win," said Irish guard Karen Swanson. "For her to do this in front of her home crowd makes it all the more special."
After the game, after all the coaches and the priests and the athletic director had their say, Ivey wanted the floor. She looked serious. After all the knee injuries, after having to teach her self to walk again before shoot again, it looked like it all might come out here. "I want to thank each and every one of (the administrators) for your support this season and during my career. Me and the team couldn't have done it without you."
Aw, everyone sighed. How sweet.
Pause.
"Now, can we have a week off from school?"
Seth Wickersham covers college basketball for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at seth.wickersham@espnmag.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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