So, since I last wrote, we earned our third appearance to the NCAA Tournament. I am so blessed that I am here at Pitt and have been able to help this program rebuild.

We got sent all the way across the country to Seattle, and it isn't easy - especially playing two teams that are close to that area. But we knew that the Big East had prepared us, not only with the type of play you see, but going on the road in hostile environments too. We were honored when our name was called regardless of where we play and who we were to play. I just really enjoyed the moment and took it all in.

Our first game against Montana we knew wasn't going to be easy. In the second half we did a great job defensively. The first half wasn't our best, but I put the team on my back and in the second half we all pulled together and it was a complete team effort. That is what we all do. If someone is down, we help pull them back up until we are all working together again.

Gonzaga was a team packed with scorers and players that had won awards within the West Coast Conference. Obviously we knew we had a big task in front of us and we knew their fans would be there, but we are always ready for a challenge.  It was a close game - a game of runs. We really fought through adversity though. I was in early foul trouble, but I wasn't going to let it stop me from supporting my team, even if it meant I had to do it from the bench. We stepped up in the second half and Chelsea Cole played such a big role. She had some blocks that saved the game. We hung together and came away with the victory.

Now we are about to leave to go to Oklahoma City for our second Sweet 16 appearance. We have to travel to another city that is close to our opponent's home court so our first two rounds helped us out with that kind of adversity. Oklahoma has an All-America candidate in Courtney Paris. She has won some big awards and we have to look to stop her and not be afraid of their crowd. I'm just not ready to stop playing. We want to keep this going as long as we can!

Tae

Even though we finished the Big East season as third, which was our highest finish in a while, we knew the tournament wouldn't be easy. It never is! But the two-game bye helped us to prepare for our opponent -- either Providence, West Virginia or DePaul.

We ended up playing DePaul and we had a little added motivation to play them because they gave us our only home loss of the season. Even though we started out slow, we played hard and we fought back. That is the thing I love about this team is that we always stick together and work to get the job done. That was our first game and it definitely wasn't easy, but we got the victory.

Our next game was Louisville in the semifinals. We played them just over a week ago and we knew how hard they would come at us. We had a slow start against them too but we knew what we needed to do to recover. In the second half, we played maybe our best basketball of the season. We came back and put them on their heels for a few minutes. But it came down to the wire and we made critical mistakes and lost the game.

We learned from that game though. We know we can't make those mistakes again. So, we're back in Pittsburgh working hard for NCAAs and waiting to see where we will go. We can't wait to get back on the court!

Tae Tae

Senior night was March 2 against St. John's. It was a great experience, but watching it last year, I didn't think it would be this emotional for me. It wasn't my last game with Pitt, but it was my last in the Petersen Events Center and it was hard. I have been so honored to be a part of this program and help it to rebuild. When I came here, I didn't think I was capable of having an impact like this. I will miss this city and my teammates, but I will be back to visit!

I know as a senior, I don't want to leave on a bad note. It is time to focus on the Big East Tournament and NCAAs and to play like we know we can. It is time to handle our business. Everyone always asks us if we feel pressure to get back to the Sweet 16, or to make it further this year. I know it sounds funny, but we don't feel any pressure at all. We just expect that kind of success now. It isn't pressure, but we believe in ourselves to get back there and I think that is what has made us successful -- our belief in ourselves and our teammates.

Before we even think about that though, we have the Big East Tournament, which is such a great event. We are excited to be in third because we were picked fifth in the preseason. We have a two-game bye so we have no idea who we are going to play, but, like I said earlier, it is March and it is a business trip so we have to be ready no matter who we play.

Tae

Our Pink the Pete game was a great turnout and a great success. As for the game, we didn't have one of our best first halves, but in the second, we came out and picked it up. Cincinnati is a great team. At this time of the year, everyone is pushing for something in the Big East and we didn't want our opportunities to slip away.

After our Cincinnati win, we knew we still had a tough road ahead. Next up was our rival West Virginia and the Backyard Brawl. The Backyard Brawl is always a fun game. You know that it is going to be a great game no matter what. WVU jumped out early, but we rebounded well for the win.

Heading into Louisville this weekend, we can't let them do that same thing to us. We have to come into this game really focused and be ready from the jump ball.

With our win over West Virginia, we secured a top three seed in the Big East tournament so we are happy. It's the best seed we have had since I have been here and I am happy for Coach B because she works so hard. We aren't really satisfied with that though, because we have big things planned for us. We want to make history.

This game at Louisville is really important. Angel McCoughtry is leading the country in steals and is definitely one of the top players in the Big East and in the country. It should be a fun battle between our teams. We are looking forward to it. It will be their senior day so I know they will be up for the game too.

Until next week...

Tae

Coming off our loss at Connecticut, we had another big challenge. Villanova is a completely different team and we had a lot of preparation to do. They were in the third spot in the Big East and with us being in fourth, they had what we wanted so we needed that win. They are well-coached and have great leadership from Laura Kurz, but we got a much-needed win.

Next up, we have Pink the Pete against Cincinnati. Pink the Petersen is our breast cancer awareness day and I am glad that we get to have this opportunity to help people. One of our teammates lost her mother to the disease and I think that so many people are not aware of how serious it is. We want to make people aware that you can start at home with self checkups. It was too late when our teammate's mom found out about her cancer, but it doesn't have to be too late for other people and that is what we want to remind them.

As for the game, we have an opportunity to get our 20th win of the season. It would be the fourth 20-win season in a row for Pitt and that would mean I would have 20 wins in all four of my years here. We love playing at home because our fans are so great. But when our students pack the seats, it just gives us that little extra excitement. Regardless of the crowd, we have to be ready to play. Cincinnati is a great team and we need to be ready for them. Every win for us now is a must win.

At the beginning of the week, I found out that I was named the Dapper Dan Sportswoman of the Year, which is the most prestigious sports award in Western Pennsylvania. I am so honored to have won. My coach won it twice and Swin Cash, who is fantastic, won it twice, so I was very proud and very honored. I absolutely have to thank God for the opportunities I have, and to the people who voted for me. It is humbling.

Until next week...

Tae

The week is off to a good start for us. Going into Rutgers on Tuesday night, we knew it was going to be really tough. We feel like we really weathered the storm though. We were down by eight late in the game, but the thing I love about this team is that we always stick together no matter what. We pulled together and came up with a great overtime win -- our first ever win at the RAC.

We really had some key defensive stops down the stretch and I think when Z (Xenia Stewart) took a charge, it definitely sparked us. Offensively, we started hitting some shots and we kept making defensive stops when we needed to. Another big play was when Phro (Sophronia Sallard) stole the ball at midcourt and tied the game.

Rutgers is a really good team and they have a great coach with so much tradition, so this win felt really good. Epiphany (Prince) and Kia (Vaughn) are difference-makers on that team. If there was another post in the Big East I could choose to have join our team, it would be Kia. She is really a presence inside and we got a big lift from Selena Nwude when she came off the bench to guard her.

Even though it was a great win at the RAC, we have more business this weekend and there is no time to celebrate. We are playing the No. 1 team in the country in Connecticut. It will be emotional for us because we will see our former coach -- Shea Ralph. We will be really happy to see Coach Shea and get to talk to her, but when the ball is tipped, its game time!   

This city is on fire! It's so exciting to be in Pittsburgh right now. We have won six games in a row, our men's team is playing really well and the Steelers just won the Super Bowl! Nothing is bigger than that, especially around here!

The Steelers winning was so much fun. Our team has had a lot of fun with it and it is cool to see everyone react to how crazy things have been. Our team got to celebrate with all the Pitt students after they won, but we knew we couldn't stay out late -- we had business to take care of on Tuesday!

We feel like Notre Dame has become one of our biggest rivalries so we always get excited for that game. It was a great feeling to score my 2,000^th point against them, but I owe all the credit to my coaches and especially my teammates. They make all of that possible.

All the excitement from beating Notre Dame is over though because we have two tough road games coming up at Rutgers and Connecticut. We can't allow ourselves to stay excited for too long. I'm not to worried about that though because we are all so excited to play Rutgers.

We always look at the Big East standings after our games to see where we need to be. We want to be one of those top seeds that gets a two-day bye in the tournament. We know that it is going to be a dog fight in the Big East and we will have to do whatever it takes to get those wins. Every team is good and even teams that were picked towards the bottom in the preseason are doing well. Villanova was picked 10^th before the season and they are fourth! So we can't take any game off.

That's all for now... see you next week!

Tae

Finally we are back home! We had a three-game road trip and we came away with three big wins, which makes coming home even better. Tonight we have our Pack the Petersen game and it is always a lot of fun. Our fans are great anyway and so much fun to play in front of, but it seems like this game is always really big.

Our road trip was tough. Against Seton Hall, we played really well and had our biggest win over them in school history. Syracuse was a hard-fought game and Xenia Stewart hit the game-winner for us so we were so happy to get out of there with a win. We finished it up at Georgetown. We didn't play great in the first half, but in the second, we pulled away and got the three-game sweep. In this league, any road game is a tough one so we were so happy to get those three wins.

One really tough thing about the Syracuse trip though, was the loss of Kay Yow. We found out the morning of that game. It was very sad and it hit our team really hard. One of our teammates, Sophronia Sallard, lost her mother to breast cancer at the start of last season so it brought back memories. We were in her hometown of Syracuse too, which made it even tougher.

I am really sad for N.C. State too. Coach Yow had been there for so long and it's such a nasty disease to have to go through. I can't imagine how they will finish their season without their coach. My thoughts definitely go out to them.

Tae

Well, we are back on the winning track! My best friend, Jessica Lawson, plays at USF and we got a big win against them last weekend. It was fun to talk back and forth out on the court to her, and especially to come up with the win so I have bragging rights.

On January 20, we had a historical day with our first black president being sworn into office. We were supposed to have shoot around at Seton Hall at the time President Obama was being sworn in, but Coach B surprised us and allowed us to see it before we started practice. The Seton Hall coach invited us to come into her office so we could see history. It was such a great experience and I think we all were thankful we could take part in it in some small way. Now, 20 years from now, we will remember exactly where we were when we saw it and we can tell people our story.

We all thought the Seton Hall game would be a lot closer than it was. We needed that win and we played really well. We slipped for a few games, but we have bounced back and got that first Big East road win Tuesday night. Now we have two more tough road games ahead at Syracuse and Georgetown and we know it won't be easy.

It has been an exciting week already and hopefully we can keep the momentum going. Until next week!

Tae 

Today I am in the mood to pretty much talk about anything but last week on the court. We lost two tough games and I think even the tough economic times might be more fun for me to talk about right now than that. But this is a new week and we are excited to play this weekend and get back in the win column.

This is my senior year on the court, but I actually earned my degree back in April, last year. I graduated with an administration of justice degree and a minor in legal studies so this year the pressure has been off as far as getting my degree.

When I was growing up, and even when I came to Pitt, I don't think I thought about the end result in getting my degree. But I am really happy I did it. My mom was so excited and so proud because I am her first child and I have that degree that no one can take away.

At Pitt, Coach B really stresses education too so it made me happy that I could carry on the tradition of all her players earning a degree. I had to work hard for it though. I am so glad the days of being nervous about passing a test so that I could get my degree are over with. But it paid off -- all of it was worth it. We have a great support staff here. Our academic advisor, Jen Tuscano, helped a lot and she's really on top of it.

Now with my degree, I've already had people talking to me back home in Florida about getting a job. When I finish playing basketball, I know that I have a great opportunity to get in to the police academy and eventually become a detective.

Well... that's all for this week!

Tae