(Editor's note: Purdue senior Katie Douglas, a 1999-2000 Kodak All-American, will share a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season.)

March 5, 2001

Dear Diary,

	Katie Douglas led the Big Ten in scoring last season with a 20.4 average.

Well, it has been a very long weekend. It is pretty late in the night. As a matter of fact, it is Monday morning and we are on our way home from Grand Rapids, Mich.

We made it to the championship game of the Big Ten tournament for the fourth consecutive year. We went into the tournament having won the past three titles, with the senior class never having lost a conference tournament game. However, this year was another story. Iowa was one of two teams that beat us during the Big Ten regular season. We came out strong and started to pull away at first, but Iowa managed to stay in the game. We eventually fell by a score of 75-70.

It was probably one of the hardest losses that I have ever had to endure as a player. I know that the seniors wanted to go out as the first ever to win four in a row. We also did not want our last Big Ten game to be a loss. But sometimes things don't work out the way you want.

Up to the game, I thought our team was finally peaking and playing some good basketball. I think at times during the Iowa game we played like we did the past two games, but other times we reverted back to some old habits. I hope that this will be the last loss that we have for the remainder of the season. Otherwise, our goal will not be accomplished.

Before the Iowa game, we defeated Ohio State in the quarterfinals and Michigan in the semifinals. We played extremely well in both games and did the little things that it takes to win. We stayed in a luxury hotel in downtown Grand Rapids and got to enjoy some good food. When we weren't playing, I was usually hanging out with my family, going over scouting reports or catching up on some lost sleep.

I had been a bit skeptical about Grand Rapids, but after being there I think that it is a tremendous city. The support that we received from the local community was great. I had no complaints except for the obvious fact that we didn't win the championship game. But hopefully our team can use this as a learning experience in order to prepare us for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. It is going to be a long journey to get to the Final Four, but I hope that we remember how we feel at this moment and do not let it happen again.

Not much other than basketball is going on for me. Right now is the point of the year when I don't have a lot to do academically, which allows me to focus on basketball for a couple of weeks. I can't believe that the maximum amount of games that I have left in my college career is six. But, what is so scary yet special about the NCAA tourney is that I am only guaranteed one game. That means the next time I step on the court (hopefully it will be in the friendly confines of Mackey Arena) I will have to step it up another level. I remember last year's tourney and our outcome, and will definitely use that as motivation to continue on further than we did last year.

Other than listening to music, nothing exciting is taking place on the bus. I have no idea where we are, but hope that we get home before it starts getting light out. I decided to write tonight because with our day off tomorrow, I probably will spend most of it sleeping. But for now, I am going to sign off and attempt to try to do some homework.

Oh yeah ... lastly, I want to take this time to wish my best friend who I grew up with a happy 22nd birthday today. Have a great day A.V., and thanks for being a great friend.

Until next time ...

KT

P.S. A.V. -- that shout out is your big birthday surprise, not to mention your present because I haven't had time to get one yet.