With red-rimmed eyes, guard Maddie Manning trudged on to the podium at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Sitting at the end of the dais next to freshman Ana Llanusa, Manning looked down at her lap as coach Sherri Coale gave an opening statement.
After six years as a Sooner it was all coming down to this: a 90-83 loss to TCU in the Big 12 quarterfinals, the second year in a row her team was bounced from the conference tournament in its first game.
She fought through the final minutes of the game, gnashing her teeth as she fell and tweaked her oft-injured knees.