Most Valuable Player: We'll give Trinity's Allison Wooley credit for figuring out how to beat the unforgiving rims on the baskets at Hulbert Arena. Wooley did what no one else was able to do at this Final Four — hit her free throws. Besides scoring the winning basket and shooting 6-for-9 from the field, Wooley, who shot 88% from the foul line for the season, hit 6-of-7 free throws in the championship game.
Most Outstanding Player: ECSU's Allison Coleman had an incredible two games, and that's saying a lot considering that she didn't shoot the ball well from either the field or the foul line. Her value was much more apparent intangibly and inspirationally. She brought out the best in teammates, such as Deanne Prior, who played one of the best game's she's ever played in the championship contest. Coleman led the Warriors back from double-digit second-half deficits both nights, while maintaining a tremendous amount of discipline so not to pick up her fifth foul. in ECSU's run that tied the title game, Coleman went 4-for-5 from the field, then had assists on the baskets that cut the lead to two and evened the score. That's why we used the word "Jordan-esque" in the accompanying story .
Most outstanding play: Emilee Planert's 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining in overtime of the semifinal, while being fouled by Coleman, was remarkably clutch. That and Coleman's go-ahead putback with 3:40 remaining (in which she outleaped two rebounders for the ball) stood out the most among a host of terrific plays.
Best postgame question: One newspaper reporter from Terre Haute asked Trinity coach Becky Geyer after Trinity won its semifinal what her thoughts were on a matchup with UW-Eau Claire, which was just getting set to tip against ECSU. "I probably just jinxed them,'' he said with a laugh.
Best information: If any team wants to see how a postseason media guide for any sport should be done, have them take a look at what Rochester produced. Their book included feature-length stories on every player on the team (written by students), as well as a comprehensive set of statistics and game notes that allowed people like us to better inform you.
Best sportsmanship moments: Wooley saying that every one of her teammates earned Tournament MVP as much as she did; Tonja Englund and Jim Schieble coaching the third-place game, once it really got going, as if it were a championship, challenging their players to raise their game to a new level; the ECSU players, who made it a point to shake the hands of the referees when they were introduced during their starting lineup.