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team had a seven-foot forward that looked like the progeny of an elf and some alien life form. The tip had sent the Badgers scurrying right away and no

one on the team liked the unbalanced feeling it gave them. While they were trying to recover, the elf and her teammates took a five-point lead.

Tamara had completely shocked everyone when she broke through and shot a beautiful, nothing but net, three pointer to give the Badgers a much need

boost. Cat carried herself down the court, watching or trying to watch every move around her and finding it nearly impossible.

She could feel the sweat starting to drip down her back and the muscles in her legs were already starting to burn and she knew it was going to be a long

game.

She wasn’t sure were the next few minutes went, but what she would always be able to clearly recall was the ball in her hands, automatically turning for

the net to line up her shot and the roar of every fan in the house as the ball dropped right through the net at the buzzer.

Cat’s world went into complete slow motion as her eyes drifted to the scoreboard and she saw that the Badger’s now had a two-point lead. It was going to

be a hard lead to keep and a hard game to win.

She turned to leave the court for halftime her eyes fell on Dylan who was patting each player on the back, but her hers were firmly on Cat and the player

knew the smile was for her.

In the locker room, Cat lay down on the floor immediately and used a bench to stretch her leg muscles. The rest of the team took their own places around

the room, stretching, taking in fluid to re-hydrate bodies that were tired and worn already.

“That was a beautiful first half ladies. I am very proud of all of you,” Dylan praised as she and the assistant coaches took their places in the center of the

room. “The second half is going to be tough, but if you play it the way you played this one, we’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. How are you all doing? Is

there anything I should know about?”

Cat managed to hold in the snort that threatened to bubble up. Dylan asked this question at every half time, expecting someone with a potential injury to

speak up. To date no one had ever admitted there was anything wrong and Cat wondered how long it would be, if ever, that she would just stop asking.

“Hodges?”

“Yes Coach?”

“I noticed you’re fighting cramps out there. You okay?”

“Right as rain Coach. They’re just running me around like mad.”

“You’re sure?”

Cat opened her eyes to find Dylan bent over at the waist looking down at her. She smiled and nodded. “I promise.”

“Tippens,” Dylan turned to the tall Australian center affectionately known as Roo. “How’s the wrist?”

“No worries, Coach. I’m good.”

“I don’t want to risk it if it’s bothering you.”

Tippens shook her head and sipped from a paper cup holding Gatorade. Dylan nodded and made a couple of notes in the book in her hands.

“The one thing you have to watch out there is Sorenson. She’s been looking for the opportunity to hit all of you at your weakest spots, foul or not. I don’t

think she cares and now that they’re down by two I expect her to try something. IF that happens, don’t be baited into a fight with the refs. Let me handle

it.”

The entire room answered in the unison that Dylan was looking for. “Yes Coach.”

“Then let’s get back out there and give them a fight. I don’t need to tell you what this game means, but I will tell you, win or lose, I’m proud as hell of you.

This team has really come together this season and we’ve come further than a lot of our critics like at the moment. So go give them a good show.”

Catherine took the ball and put it into play, shooting to Mackey who began a hard charge down court. Cat moved up from behind and was getting her

bearings when a warning whistle sounded and all movement stopped. She looked for the referee making the call and found that Chaney had been called for

a foul against a guard.

“Shit!” Cat groaned as she trotted down the court to find out what was going on and she could see that Chaney was about to go off.

“That b…” Chaney was getting ready to charge when Cat put her hand in her chest.

“Stop!” Cat ducked so she could put her face in Chaney’s. “Just stop. If there’s a problem, Coach will handle it.”

Before Chaney could say anything else the whistle blew and the ball was back in play and the Nitro had control.

“Shit,” Cat mumbled, running into play. “It’s going to be a long 20 minutes.”

Dylan paced as was quite normal for the coach. She always managed to sweat almost as much as the players just from working a rut into the floor. Her

attention was fairly evenly divided between the players but most of her attention was on Cat, not because of their relationship but because she could see

the player favoring her right leg.

“Fuck,” Dylan breathed as she called for a time out.

As the team made its way to the bench, she gestured for Cat to take a seat and tapped her replacement. After giving them a few words and a new play she