AUSTIN, Texas -- It was a pretty harmless question, really. Nothing a coach shouldn't have been prepared for when her team's season had just come to an end in the NCAA Tournament.

"Would you call your season a success, Coach?"

Rene Portland was prepared for it. She had heard the question before. However it was worded, it always hinted at the same thing. Such a great regular season, Coach, but you couldn't get it done in the tourney. And now . . . "Would you call your season a success?"

No hesitation. Rene Portland is rarely at a loss for words.

"Would you?" she replied.

Good question.

With their 96-82 loss to Alabama in Saturday night's Midwest Regional final, the Lady Lions were immediately thrust into the role of evaluators. Through the tears and the second guessing, they were asked to consider their year. Especially the way it ended.

No easy task when your program has a reputation for always being disappointed come March. But isn't there any consolation knowing what a great year it was?

"I'm sure there will be in a few weeks, but right now . . . I think we're all pretty down," senior forward Jackie Donovan said after her final appearance as a Lady Lion. "But I think we feel good about what we've done."

What they did was win a Big Ten Championship in only their second year in the conference. What they did was spend three weeks as the No. 1 team in the nation, a position held by only one other team all season -- Tennessee. What they did was win their first three tournament games -- the best ever NCAA showing of a Lady Lion squad -- before running into the hottest team in the tourney.

"To answer your question, yes, I thought the season was very successful," Portland said going back to the red-faced reporter. "We did survive a terrific conference, we did survive some injuries coming down the stretch, and we stayed together as a team.

"We survived what we called the trip from hell," Portland said of the five-day stretch in which the Lady Lions beat Michigan, Ohio State and Vanderbilt, all on the road. "We did ourselves proud."