Editor's note: Ball State's Tamara Bowie, last season's Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, will share a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season.

Feb. 27, 2002

Hello! Since the last time I have talked to you we have had three games, a ring, a friendly game of war and most importantly, a Mid-American Conference championship!

	Tamara Bowie averaged 18.6 points and 8.4 rebounds as a sophomore in 2000-01.

Last night was a record-breaking night for Ball State women's basketball. For the first time in school history, we earned a conference championship with an 81-67 win at Toledo. It was so exciting and the team is happy, but not satisfied. After last night, we chalked the game up as just another win and we moved on. The reality, though, is that we accomplished something that no other team has accomplished. We are part of the first conference championship team at Ball State and no one will ever forget that.

Toledo came out ready to play on its homecourt and for its Senior Night, just like we expected. It was the last regular-season game of the year with everything on the line. Not only did we match their intensity, I think we exceeded it. My teammate Johna Goff was hot like fire! I didn't care if I scored or not; I just wanted to keep getting her the ball because she was in a zone. She had five 3s in the first half to really set the tone. I had 16 points, Shala Crook had 13 and Johna's 18 points put all three of us in double figures in the first half. We were up 49-38 at the break.

Toledo battled back to within five points in the second half, but to my team's credit, we stayed together and pulled out the win. When the game got close, their crowd erupted and it felt like we were playing for a national championships instead of a conference title. It was so loud, I could barely hear myself think.

Down the stretch, we continued to make big plays and Shala sealed it from the free-throw line. It felt good to win a tough road game, especially late in the season. We celebrated the accomplishment in the locker room and on the bus ride home, but now we move on and focus on the postseason.

Now to the ring. Last week we played Central Michigan at home, which was also Senior Day. It was a fun game that saw us win our a school-record 20th game and we achieved our goal of going undefeated at the "crib." We finished the season 12-0 at home. After the game we had a surprise ring ceremony, where Shala's boyfriend proposed to her at midcourt. He was in an all-white Tuxedo with a red bow tie (I must say he was clean). Congratulations to them and I wish them the best in their life as one.

Payback's a ...
Now to the friendly game of war. Last week, coach Hill and I were roastin'. We gave our coaching staff nicknames, but for sake of privacy, I can't go national with those. But I guess they didn't take to the new names too well. Or maybe it was the fact we dumped coach Hill in a trash can?

When we arrived at our hotel in Toledo, coach Roller called us to her room to watch film. We only had one key to each of our rooms, which should have been the first sign of things to come. The assistant coaches were not at the film session, which should have been the second sign. While we were sitting around with coach Roller, the assistant coaches were down ram-sacking our rooms! When we went back down to our rooms there was stuff everywhere -- shaving cream in our shoes, missing toothbrushes, saran-wrapped toilets. You name it, it happened. Just remember one word -- payback.

When everything is over, I will look back and remember this team for what it has accomplished. I wouldn't trade my team or staff for anyone else. We feel like we have a lot more to accomplish and that starts next week with the MAC tournament. We are expecting a battle because all the teams are so competitive. The main thing we need to focus on is us -- we have to come ready to play. We have three games to reach our ultimate goal.

One Love,

Bowie