Head Coach Dianne Nolan can't remember the exact play she called out of the timeout on March 8, 1991. Maybe it was called 'red', maybe 'special.' But the name of the play isn't why we are reflecting back on the call 25 years later. It's because of the result. All Fairfield fans will remember is the Stags leaving the huddle at a loud Draddy Gymnasium in a tie game against the host Manhattan Jaspers in the MAAC Semifinals. Only mere seconds were still left on the clock, and the ball in the hands of their All-American combo guard Lisa Mikelic.
“I remember getting the ball after Dianne called a timeout knowing we needed to take a shot,” Mikelic reflected back. “I dribbled the ball into the lane, pulled up, and took a short shot.”
That shot did more than propel the Stags into their first MAAC Championship Finals in three seasons, it allowed the Stags, and their three-member senior class to exhale and de-pressurize the situation.
“You could have cut the tension with a knife, they were getting a little scared,” Coach Nolan remembers about that Semifinal matchup. “After the game I said, 'mission accomplished, now we're in the finals.'”
But how could it already be mission accomplished? They had just reached the MAAC Finals, and were going up against a very quick Saint Peter's team. Nothing was guaranteed. But just getting to that Championship game was reaching the bar they had set all year long.
“They were like no excuses, we have to win,” Nolan said. “They had a taste of it and they just thought it was going to happen all the time. Now they became students of the game and knew that this didn't happen but it's the bar they wanted.”
The Stags now had the chance to break that underachieving feeling they've had the previous two seasons. With the two All-Americans on their roster, Mikelic in the backcourt and Tricia Sacca patrolling the frontcourt, this senior class was re-writing the record books. Those three players would help the squad to the first title in program history as freshmen, but had not reached the finals since.
“The win was huge because we knew every team wanted to beat us,” Mikelic said. “Reaching the finals was another step to making the NCAA's. We struggled the previous two years but never gave up. We were young and learned a lot that season. We stayed together and continued to work hard.”
Just like every teammate who has ever used the line 'we stayed together,' the 1990-91 Stags had moments throughout the season, where the team truly came together. It might have started at a practice session when one of the team's hardest workers Mary-Lu Matott went down with her third knee injury in as many years.
“She had the respect of everyone. She was a basketball student and absolutely loved the game,” Nolan said. “When she went down it was like it wasn't fair. Why can't it be someone who doesn't work out, who doesn't care get hurt? Why her? But what it did do is show how important it is to play each minute as hard as you can. Even if you were tired you would look at Mary Lou and know that she would change places with you in a heartbeat. So I'm not going to dog it.”
That was the first true rallying cry of a team who wore the number 11 on their shoes as part of the spirit of Matott on the court.
You could look at many other reasons why the Stags were now going to try and help their senior class bookend their career with MAAC titles. Maybe it was playing for Matott. Maybe it was their senior leadership. Maybe it was the fact they were just sick and tired of losing with the talent on their roster.
Whatever it was, they would be tested again.
The Stags were leading comfortably in that Championship Finals showdown with Saint Peter's, leading by as many as 18 in the first half. That's when they would experience their next hurdle that forced the squad to come together. Lynne Friel who was their point guard (fifth in the MAAC in assists) drove to the hoop and ended up falling down, blowing out her ACL. Friel, of course, would not play for the rest of the game.
The Stags huddled up and came together.
“We knew we were going to play with Lynne in our hearts,” Mikelic said.
“I think they played inspired because of Friel,” Nolan said. “The focus kind of shifted. It was like 'let's win this for Lynne' rather than 'Oh my God we're in the finals we have to win.' It was this refuse to lose attitude.”
What followed became a MAAC classic. Saint Peter's made a furious comeback, but the Stags matched them shot for shot. Kate Abromovitch set a tournament record with five 3-pointers and had 28 points, including some big long range shots in the final minutes of the game.
But with all that, Saint Peter's was able to tie the game with 11 seconds remaining.
This set up another dramatic scene in the movie version of that year's team. The last seven seconds is clear in the minds of the two biggest figures of that play 25 years later. Their accounts are as similar as they are closing their eyes and watching the action again together.
Or maybe it was a moment neither of them will forget.
“I will never forget Mikelic,” Nolan said. “She got the ball, and I can still see it because I think it was the most savvy play. She looked up at the clock, knew exactly how much time was left. She crossed over and bang.”
“Trish Sacca inbounded the ball to me and I looked up at the clock and saw seven seconds,” Mikelic said. “I dribbled down the court and pulled up in the lane for a jumper and the ball went in.”
All that was left, was to run back, play some nervous defense, and hope the desperation shot didn't go in.
Of course that long heave didn't fall, because what kind of story would this be if it did.
After three years it was time for the Stags to celebrate again.
“I think Lynne jumped,” Nolan said. “We all just went crazy.”
Who knows if the excitement of winning a conference title momentarily outweighed the pain of an ACL tear, causing Friel to jump? Nolan remembers a memorable picture of the whole team embracing Friel after being crowned champions.
The most important part of the story was the fact that the Stags came together and achieved all their goals.
“It was a tremendous feeling to end my career with a MAAC title,” Mikelic said. “All our hard work, effort, and dedication as a team made the title happen. We really earned the victory and that makes the win so rewarding.”
“It was very, very fitting because this team deserved it,” Nolan said. “The seniors were the heart and soul, they rewrote the history books here, and they just weren't going to be denied. It felt rewarding.”
The Stags had many motivations to win the title that year. The rally around Matott and Friel, the urgency of the seniors to win another title, the tough competitive drive that existed in every player.
You might not be able to pinpoint one single motivational factor. But when you add all those up, it equals a championship team that you can remember 25 years later.
Even if you can't remember the exact play.
