HARD Loss

This blog is usually dedicated to men's college basketball but after today, I have to mention this. Lindsay Harding, probably the National POY this year in womens college basketball, ended her career as brutally as anyone could end their career: she missed two free throws with .1 seconds left that would've sent her team to the Elite 8 but instead send the Lady Devils packing.

You have to feel bad for this girl but if she needs some support, she needs to seek the counsel of one Jason Williams. Although I only saw the end of this game, this seemed to mirror the ending of the 2002 Regional Semi v. Indiana for the Men.

The girls were all but dead when Rutgers foolishly through a baseball pass down the court that Harding intercepted. She rushed down the court and was fouled taking an off balance prayer. Sound familar? Remember, Duke was dead with 10 seconds left in the Indiana game. They were down 74-70 when Daniel Ewing missed a 3 and it bounced out to Jay Williams who hit a 3 and was foolishly fouled by a Hoosier. All Jay had to do was hit a free throw and it would go into OT. We all know the result. He missed the free throw, Boozer got the rebound, missed a point blank layup, the game was over and hence so was Jay Williams' career.

Fast forward to today, Lindsay missed the first. You could see it in her face that she was going to miss the second. Can you blame her in such a pressurized situation? She missed the second and a desperation tip just missed and the game was over and now so is Harding's career.

In both cases, Duke was clearly the best team and for some reason not only did they have an early exit to the tournament but they both lost in the most excrutiating fashion. Keep your head up Lindsay, not many would've hit those either.