PORTLAND — When you’re a women’s basketball team, and you’re in the NAIA, and you’re making one national headline after another, it’s either because A) one of your players did something awesome, or B) one of your players just became the latest Mrs. Sheen.
Fortunately for Concordia University of Portland, it was the former.
With 0.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Cavaliers tied with College of Idaho in Monday’s Cascade Collegiate Conference championship game, senior Danielle Clauson inbounded the ball off an Idaho player’s back, swiftly scooped it up and flung a 10-foot jumper to beat the buzzer and bag the title.
Obviously you gotta have a spine to knock down a clutch shot in the biggest game of the season, but when there’s less then a second left on the clock, apparently you gotta have two.
Clauson said she noticed early on that the Idaho defenders weren’t facing the ball on baseline in-bounds plays. Recently named conference players of the year tend to make those kind of observations, after all.
But she wasn’t planning on pulling off the now famous backside bailout, mainly because — she didn’t think she’d be inbounding the ball.
Concordia coach Aaron Christian said he received a text from a coaching buddy after the game that read “I know you didn’t draw that one up.” And he didn’t. But he did make an impromptu decision to have Clauson take the ball out, even though she was playing center and that’s generally the power forward’s responsibility.
So the Edmonds native quickly stepped out of bounds, grabbed the ball from the referee, saw her opportunity, and the rest is …
Well, first, here’s a little history.
Clauson unsuccessfully attempted this exact play in a regular season game three years ago. With a few seconds remaining, and the Cavaliers tied with Pacific Lutheran, Clauson’s father subtly and cryptically yelled from the stands “throw it off her back!”
She did, but her shot rimmed out and Concordia lost in overtime.
Even so, Clauson’s audacity earned her a reputation as a basketball daredevil. As teammate and fellow senior Sarah Eischen said: “With Dani, it’s always something out of the ordinary.”
This rings true off the court, too.
Besides occasionally pulling all nighters while helping teammates write papers, Clauson, an accounting major, also volunteers to do people’s taxes. Makes sense if you think about it. She does thrive under tight deadlines.
And when her shot splashed through the net Monday, the Concordia gym went bezerk. Teammates mobbed her. Fans rushed the court. It was a celebration Clauson won’t soon forget.
But it was nothing compared to the after-party.
Concordia athletic director Matt English sent college friend and SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett footage of the feat in hopes that he could get it some airtime on ESPN. Less than two hours later, it was being shown as the No. 10 play of the night on the West Coast.
Clauson’s phone was suddenly inundated with text messages from numbers she didn’t even recognize.
But it didn’t stop there. When ESPN’s national office caught wind of the play, it bumped it up to No. 1.
More texts. More kudos. The one problem?
“I couldn’t watch it,” said Clauson, who averages a team-high 19.5 points per game. “I don’t have cable.”
No biggie. Yahoo Sports called to interview her the next day, wrote up a blog item and linked a video that has since received more than one million hits. Segments on Portland and Seattle local news stations followed.
Hey, when there are 10 other Concordias in the country, you have to distinguish yourself somehow, right?
The fanfare hadn’t faded much Wednesday when the Cavaliers gathered in the university’s cafeteria to watch the selection show for the NAIA Division II National Championships. With broadcast and print media in attendance, the ladies whooped upon hearing they’d earned the sixth seed and would play Black Hills State in the first round in Sioux City, Iowa.
Then, the show’s host proceeded to discuss what has to be the highest profile NAIA Division II women’s basketball team ever.
“The Cavaliers are led by junior Katie Steigleman,” he said.
Actually, Steigleman plays for Corban University, Concordia’s rival.
Guess the spotlight can die in less than a second, too.
Matt Calkins can be contacted at 360-735-4528 or e-mail matt.calkins@columbian.com
