PINE BLUFF -- The 1998-99 Arkansas Tech Golden Suns went from bandages to riches, concluing their season as NCAA Division II national tournament runners-up Saturday.
When asked during Saturday night's post-championship press conference what he would title a book about the season if he were to become an author, Tech Head Coach Joe Foley used a similar expression that is more fitting: "From heck to heaven."
The Golden Suns went from high hopes from their head coach during preseason practices, to asking the question what could possibly go wrong next? Four players ended their season before playing a minute of actual game time, while another Sun had her season canceled during their third game.
But Tech won its second NCAA Tournament South Regional championship, advanced to the Elite Eight and came within minutes of its third national championship in the 1990s ‹ still the best of any basketball team in Arkansas on any collegiate level.
Critics and various fans at the Pine Bluff Convention Center predicted at least a 20-point North Dakota win before Saturday's tipoff -- possibly even 30 or 40 points. Obviously, they didn't know the Golden Suns or Foley very well. But they do now.
"I think our kids know in every game they have a chance to win," Foley explained. "That's the way we talk every day. We try to approach practice the same way we approach a game -- go out and give 100 percent. That's all you can give, 100 percent. If you do that, you've got a chance.
"When you play as many teams and the quality of teams we played this year, our kids know that if they play well they have a chance to win basketball games. I don't think we were a bit afraid to play them [Fighting Sioux]. I think we knew it was going to be a tough challenge, and I think we were ready for it."
Tech stayed within eight points of 3-time national champ North Dakota midway through the second half, and less than double figures in the final seven before losing to the Fighting Sioux 80-63. But it wasn't that way in the first half.
The Golden Suns hit six of their first eight baskets to open the game, and led by as many as six points until NDU took a 41-37 advantage at halftime.
"It kind of surprised when we first started hitting everything we put up, because it's not like us," senior Khelli Mullen pointed out as listeners chuckled. "But I knew that wasn't going to be the whole game. It was going to slow down and we would probably go cold for a little bit. We just kept fighting back, and [decided] even if we got behind to give it all we had and do what we can."
"I was like Khelli, I was real surprised," added Foley. "If you say you expected that after watching us shoot all year, you knew we'd be surprised. You just sit there and enjoy it as a coach. But you've got to be realistic and know your ball club is going to cool off, especially when you get a little tired.
"We played our kids a lot of minutes today. With so many time outs, I thought that would help. I might should have rested [Mindy] Lasater a little bit more. She had a big challenge in guarding that point guard [Jaime Pudenz], because she's never guarded a point guard the whole year. I thought [Mandi] Huskey did a heckuva job on her, and that frustrated them a little bit in the first half."
"It worked for us for awhile, but then they showed their composure and did what they needed to do," the coach continued. "For us to come out and shoot the ball well, it gave us confidence to come out and play the whole game. If they would have destroyed us early, we might have never got into the game. The way it was, we were in the ball game until the last five minutes. That's the way you want it."
Mullen added that she felt it was her role as a senior to talk toand instruct the younger players, including freshman guard Lasater.
"One of my roles was to help her out, to try to get her to relax and loosen up a little bit. Just play the game and have fun. If you can't have fun, there's no sense in playing. Just go out and do the best you can.
"She was a little uptight at first, and I was just trying to get her to relax, and remind her about the little things. We were just trying to get relaxed. Everybody was trying everything, and trying too hard at times, I think. It was fun at times, and it was hard at times."
Foley noted that the national television exposure -- the game was televised live by ESPN2 -- could only help Arkansas Tech University in the future.
"For recruiting, it's great that everybody saw Arkansas Tech's name out there," the coach stated. "It's just a lot of publicity that you can't pay for. It's naturally going to open some doors for us, and we need to go out there and knock on a lot of doors right now. That's what we intend to do."
Saturday's most important fact was the one that the Golden Suns applied to North Dakota for the majority of the national championship game -- they were not intimidated by the Fighting Sioux.
"Again, I still say that this is the only basketball team that could have beat us today," added Foley.