A round of tearful hugs had subsided, and the mood was reserved but not morose. For the last time in her Stanford career, Jillian Harmon, the starting senior from Lake Oswego, Ore., was part of a locker room full of elite athletes who had just expended everything they had, as a team, for the team.
“I was bawling my eyes out, not because we lost the game, but because I can’t play with these ladies again.”
The game itself, an 83-64 shellacking at the hands of University of Connecticut in the Final Four semifinals, didn’t help. But even the loss accentuated a sense of camaraderie: “We were positive for the whole 40 minutes,” said Harmon. And coach Tara VanDerveer made a point of crediting Harmon and Jayne Appel for their leadership in that effort.
Harmon, who scored almost 1,100 points over her four seasons, made the Pac-10 all-defensive team, an honor that often spotlights unsung contributions. That was Harmon—not the focal point but always essential. Consider: at a press conference the day before the Connecticut game, VanDerveer thanked the person whose question provided an opportunity to talk about Harmon.
“I couldn’t have asked for more,” said Harmon, amid the emotion of the postgame atmosphere. “The best coaches in the world, the best teammates. To have it come to an end is a bit surreal.”
