What a week this has been!! A couple of weeks ago, I said that we would need to get to .500 to make the playoffs. We came up a bit short, but the result was the same. After a roller coaster last two weeks of the season, we secured the number four seed in the playoffs. As our reward, we get the defending Eastern Conference Champion Connecticut Sun. We’re hosting Game One on Wednesday night at The Palace, and I’m sure all of you are going to come out and support us.

The great thing about the playoffs is that at this point, the previous 34 games don’t mean much. All eight teams in the playoffs have been very successful during the season, but now everyone is back to square one. Obviously, I’ve never been through this, but I have been listening to and learning from the veterans on our club. I think that our mad dash for the final playoff spot will actually help us in the playoffs. I know that people always say that teams should be playing their best as they enter the post-season. We finished the regular season winning 6 of our last 10 games, including an important four game winning streak. I hope that the experience of essentially playing each game with the season on the line will help us focus on each series of the playoffs.

One thing that does carry over from the regular season is the knowledge and experience that defense wins games. We’ve really stepped up our defensive intensity in the last couple of weeks, including holding Indiana to a franchise record low 40 points last week. All of our coaches have been stressing defense and rebounding. We’ve been working really hard on both sides of the ball, but we realize that if we play hard and together defensively, everything else will hall into place.

I know that I don’t talk much about my personal stats, but someone told me today that Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman said that I am one of the “x-factors” to our series against Connecticut. I don’t know if she will read this, but I just wanted to say thank you to her for mentioning me. It’s not much, but it means something when a person of her caliber notices your hard work.

While I’m on the sentimental kick, I want to say thanks again to all of our fans. You have made me so comfortable this year. You guys are the reason we work so hard. You have been there for us all season, and hopefully, we’ll be able to reward you in a couple of weeks.

I hope to see and hear all of you at The Palace on Wednesday night.

-Kara