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Special achievement for Penn women

Quakers earn NCAA Tournament bid, will play Texas

Penn's Brooklyn Juday, Kristen Kody, Alyssa Brown and Courtney Wilson. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)
Penn's Brooklyn Juday, Kristen Kody, Alyssa Brown and Courtney Wilson. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)Read more

The Penn women's basketball team (22-6, 12-2 Ivy) will be making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in a decade, following this year's Ivy League championship. Senior Courtney Wilson and freshman Sydney Stipanovich will write a daily diary for the Daily News throughout the team's run in the tournament.

"Special." That is the word that Coach [Mike] McLaughlin has been drilling into our heads since we arrived at Penn. "You have the chance to do something special"; "You have to be a special group and stay true to who you are"; and finally, "We did something special."

Now we have another chance to accomplish something special. We have worked towards this goal for 4 years and the time is now.

Last night as we eagerly awaited to see our name on the screen set up at the Palestra, with fans and the band cheering us on, emotions were running fast and high. Having the crowd and our Penn family made the experience all the better.

The moment came so fast for us that many missed the details, but slowly the information traveled: We are a 12-seed, playing Texas, Sunday at the University of Maryland, and on ESPN. Streamers were flying, fans were cheering and we were all ecstatic.

We have yet to play in a game of this magnitude, but we are sure that we can rise to the challenge. This will be another opportunity to distinguish ourselves as being "special."