Deanna Ortiz stood near center court in her royal blue uniform, biting her lower lip, her hands on her hips, as the last seconds of her season and DePaul career slipped off the clock.
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In postseason play in any sport, you could say that losing, not winning, is everything, or nearly. Like Ortiz, the vast majority of postseason players close out their seasons and careers in defeat. One team wins the NCAA tourney; 63 lose. DePaul made the tourney all four of Ortiz’s years; twice the Blue Demons were knocked out in the first round, twice, now, in the second.
She’s five-foot-ten and broad shouldered. She grew up on the northwest side and started playing basketball in first grade. Michael Jordan was in his prime then and her parents were sports fans, so she saw a lot of Bulls games. Her father played in high school. Knee injuries curtailed his basketball career “but he loved it so he taught me how to play.”
DePaul managed to hang around most of the game, thanks largely to 20 points from star junior guard Anna Martin. With less than three minutes left, Ortiz nailed two jumpers, including a three-pointer that pulled the Blue Demons to within seven. But Martin fouled out a few seconds later, and DePaul was spent by Tennessee’s ten-player rotation. The final was 63-48. Ortiz had nine points, one of her highest totals this season.
