(Editor's note: Two of WNBA.com's athlete voices for the 2001 playoffs just happen to have played together in college and could wind up facing each other in the Championship Series. New York's Rebecca Lobo threw down the gauntlet with a postseason version of her World According to Me and now Sacramento's Kara Wolters responds ... )

Oh Rebecca, my dear friend and former teammate, the stakes have not been raised. Now, people get to enjoy two fabulous points of view from UConn grads! If, however, you want to make this into an Eastern vs. Western Conference thing, you have to realize that the Western Conference always wins!!!! Just kidding! Besides, how do I compete with someone who uses the word Sojourn in a sentence when writing a sports journal!?!

There is a lot of excitement in the city of Sacramento. Not only did we get our first playoff win in franchise history, we advanced to the Conference Finals after beating Utah in the First Round. Although we swept the series, it was a much tougher road than the final scores indicated. It set the stage for a great match-up between us and L.A. ARCO Arena will surely be hopping Friday night.

There is a certain level of intensity that comes about during playoff time. It's not something you think about, it's just something that happens naturally. You don't necessarily know how to get it, but you know when you have it. It's kind of like chemistry. Fortunately for the Monarchs, our intensity and chemistry seem to be coming together at just the right time -- playoffs!

I have been fortunate to have won at every level that I have ever played. I feel like I have experienced so many things and have played in so many championships that I know what we need to win. We need to go out there and play like "black alley cats". Well, at least that was advice given to us by our ex-coach Sonny Allen. A group of us who were listening in the huddle proceeded to crack up hysterically and wonder if he said what we thought he just said. It is not often that you hear your coach tell you to go play like a cat. As funny as it was at the time, it ended up being somewhat motivational, and (Head Coach) Maura (McHugh) uses the line whenever she feels we need a little push. It's now become our inside meaning for "let's go kick some butt."

So to go along with the alley cat theme, when one of our teammates, Stacy Clinesmith was hurt and put on IR, Cindy Blodgett and I went out to get her a black kitten to cheer her up. Nick, as he came to be called, symbolized fight. You have to have heart and fight, especially come playoff time. There is so much talent in this league, now who wants it more. Who is willing to fight like a black alley cat for it? I know the Sacramento Monarchs are. The claws have been sharpened and it's Western Conference Finals time. MEOW!