"It" makes Penn State women's basketball assistant coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl cringe to the point where she can't even say the phrase. Uttering its name could conjure up a horrific nightmare of possibilities.
"It doesn't happen at Penn State," Robinson Fruchtl said. "We have never had it, and we don't expect it to happen. It's just not acceptable."
"It" stands for an under-.500 record. Robinson Fruchtl hopes to never see the day that the Penn State women's basketball team finishes with more losses than wins. She was born in the winter of 1969, and during her life the Lady Lions have only had a losing record once.
"It's something that is just not acceptable," Robinson Fruchtl said.
The last losing season in the history of the program was in 1973, when Mary Ann Domitrovitz led Penn State to a 3-5 mark.
This year, the Lady Lions are 11-14 (5-9 Big Ten), just barely hanging onto the dream of hosting a NCAA tournament game in State College. The coaching staff has said it will not accept a WNIT bid, but it still hopes for postseason play. Less than mediocrity spells demise for Penn State, and only a sweep of the conference tournament brings a coveted automatic bid into the Big Dance.
While Penn State women's basketball head coach Rene Portland was too busy to meet with the media yesterday, Robinson Fruchtl filled in with the common ideology.
"Win four straight and go to the NCAA tournament," Robinson Fruchtl. "We have to get them to believe that."
As a former player under Portland -- who has 25 consecutive .500 or better seasons at Penn State -- Robinson Fruchtl has gained her winning demeanor through years of success. That includes the 1990-91 season where Lady Lions had an 18-game winning streak and their first ever No. 1 ranking.
But while Robinson Fruchtl is more accustomed to coming out on top, she has been in her players' shoes, sprinting for respectability down the stretch. Her first season in the collegiate ranks, 1988-89, had Penn State at 9-12 at one point in the season. The Lady Lions then rallied back with a 5-2 run to end the season 14-14.
There are still no excuses, even if this year's road over the .500 hump is a rocky one. Two of the four wins would have to come in the Big Ten tournament. Not to mention the last game of the regular season is against last year's national co-player of the year, center Jessica Davenport, and No. 6 Ohio State.
The Buckeyes could be double trouble for the Lady Lions late in the season. If Penn State remains the No. 8 seed going into the conference tournament and Ohio State manages to hold onto the No. 1 seed, contingent on both teams winning their first-round games, the pair would then square off again in the second round.
"Whoever finishes No. 1 finished No. 1 for a reason," Robinson Fruchtl said.
That could be a huge blow to the Lady Lions' hope for a winning record, since they lost to the Buckeyes by 21 on Dec. 29.
Nobody is thinking that far ahead. Besides the below .500 record, the only other thing Robinson Fruchtl won't utter is "never" -- except when casting doubt on impossibilities.
"Never say never," Robinson Fruchtl said. "We have the Big Ten tournament. We will go after every game and expect to win every game."
