There was a surprise invitation to the Big Dance.
After getting bounced from the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament in overtime in the first-round on Feb. 26, there were the usual final-game tears for the St. Xavier women’s basketball team.
With an 18-11 record, a fifth-place finish in the league in the regular season and the early exit in the tournament, the writing was on the wall — there would be no NAIA Tournament bid this year.
The writing was wrong.
Even though the team stopped practicing, said goodbye to the seniors and coach Sidney Lotitsch even had exit meetings with the players, on March 6 the team found out it indeed is heading to the 64-team tournament.
The 14th-seeded Cougars take on third-seeded Marian (Indiana) at 4 p.m. March 14 in Indianapolis in the Naismith bracket of the NAIA First and Second Round Tournament. Marian is 24-7 and won the Crossroad League Tournament.
SXU sophomore guard Madyson Kibelkis, a Peotone graduate, said the Cougars were stunned to hear the news.
“We talked about how we were going to prepare for next year,” she said. “Obviously our main goal that we had was to go to nationals. We were shooting big.
“We didn’t think we would be in. There was no shot. What was happening? I guess God was on our side. We got a bid.”
Lovitsch, a former Cougars player who is in her second year as the SXU coach, started hearing rumblings that the Cougars could be on the radar. Amazingly, the CCAC had five teams invited when in the past the league was lucky to get two or three.
“We felt we put together a strong schedule and had quality wins,” Lovitsch said. “In the end, we knew getting in was going to be tough, but hoped for the best.
“We’re happy for our team and the university.”
Other players from the area on the roster are Mother McAuley graduate Maeve Egan and Crete resident Madison Wilcox, who played at Marian Catholic.
The Cougars were in scramble mode getting back into basketball shape.
Add to that, spring break started on March 7. Kibelkis said no one had any big vacation plans, but many of the players were planning to go back home and visit their families. Some players did not receive breaks for Thanksgiving or Christmas breaks.
“They were packed up and ready to go,” she said. “Now they are staying. I’m lucky that I live close enough to home where I could go back for a little while.”
Kebelkis is a valuable player off the bench as she hit double figures in five games this season including a pair of 14-point performances against Trinity Christian.
Now that the Cougars are enjoying new life, they are planning on making the most of it.
“There has been some crazy basketball,” Kibelkis said. “It’s March and we’re dancing, I guess.
“We were all talking in practice and said, ‘You know what? If we’re going to this, let’s win. Let’s go.’ Let’s show them who the St. Xavier Cougars are.’’
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