Watching No. 14 in the Chicago Sky jersey gracefully navigate the ebbs and flows of a pro basketball game, you might never imagine the deep reservoir of intestinal fortitude and tensile strength that lies within a wiry 5-foot, 10-inch frame.
On Tuesday night when DePaul pays tribute to former Blue Demon great and current WNBA champion Allie Quigley before its season opener against Texas Southern, folks in Wintrust Arena will come to admire her special brand of true grit.
It's a toughness borne out of an upbringing by a salt-of-the-earth mom and dad who conquered their sports worlds with the same fearlessness that allowed them to stare down the worst kind of adversity with courage and grace.
It's Joliet Catholic tough as in former Bears Super Bowl guard Tom Thayer and a former six-time Pro Bowl Tampa Bay power back named Mike Alstott whose specialized training during his high school days featured tying a truck tire and car tire around his waist and dragging them 40 yards over grass in his family's back yard 20 times followed by pushing a car three miles.
It's having the strength of your conviction in the face of WNBA teams including the Phoenix Mercury who didn't think you were good enough to help their franchise.
That's when the unconditional affection and encouragement from her college coach helped sustain her as DePaul's Doug Bruno would call often to lift her spirits. He told her to keep on shooting and that they both knew she belonged at the highest level.
Perhaps some of those memories helped fire up Quigley when she rallied the Sky from 14-down to overtake Phoenix in the Oct. 17 title clincher at a sold-out Wintrust Arena.
"When the Sky was chasing 14 against the Babe Ruth of the WNBA Diana Taurasi, Allie knocked down three 3-pointers in about 90 seconds, trimmed the deficit to five and brought down the house," Bruno said. "I kept yelling: 'Come on Allie---three more!'"
Wintrust Arena had never been more deafening than that Sunday afternoon when Quigley ignited a championship rally resulting in the 80-74 triumph.
"I specifically remember Candace (Parker) telling us to stay calm and go one play at a time," Quigley said. "I remember Kahleah (Copper) saying at the start of the fourth quarter 'Are we gonna do this or what?'
"We all had this look in our eyes like, let's go for it!! I went for it by being confident and taking those threes, and everyone else had their moments to close out that fourth quarter. It was unbelievable how well we played together in those minutes. The Wintrust Arena crowd carried us in the final 10 minutes."
Quigley finished with a team-high 26 points and led the Sky in the Finals averaging 18 points a game. Just as her mom Chris Prieboy used to do at Joliet Central and College of St. Francis, the oldest daughter is at her best in the biggest of moments.
Quigley had McGrath Arena shaking from the rafters when she poured in 27 points and singlehandedly put Connecticut on the brink of defeat. Only an uncanny steal and game-winning basket from UConn legend Maya Moore averted the upset.
"I play my best by continually telling myself to trust my work and be confident in that," said Quigley, a three-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Honorable Mention All-American at DePaul. "I tell myself to be fearless in big moments because I know I've done the work to give myself a good shot at making the right play. My teammates are also constantly telling me to shoot and giving me that confidence."
No one appreciates her basketball odyssey more than Bruno.
"Allie Quigley is the classic Chicago story of grit and determination," Bruno said. "Every time you get knocked down, get right back up and keep fighting. Allie has a passion for the game and just loves to play. When it wasn't working out originally with the WNBA, it looked like she would become a European lifer and that would be her fate.
"Every time the WNBA called, she answered. She went to tryouts with Phoenix, Indiana and Seattle, yet didn't make the regular-season roster. But she got better at each tryout.
"And when she played overseas as a global vagabond, it was often against WNBA players and top European pros. Hey, if I can get 20 against a WNBA pro in Europe, I can do it back home."
Overcoming more than anyone else wearing a Sky jersey and never giving up---even in the most discouraging of times---Quigley has reached the pinnacle of her career. Does she ever think back on how far she's come?
"I've been thinking a lot about the journey in these last couple weeks," Quigley said. "I was thinking back to the times where Courtney (Vandersloot) and I doubted ourselves like 'are we enough?'
"But we always just got back into the gym and tried to get better. It feels so satisfying to be able to say I'm a champion and to truly feel like a champion. It's the most gratified I've ever felt, and it makes me so grateful for every moment and every person that's helped me along the way.
"It's kind of crazy to think that I almost decided not to give [the WNBA] another try," she once told the Star-Tribune. "It's pretty amazing to know that even if a million doors close, if you want something bad enough, it can still happen."
Quigley will be honored during a three-minute pregame ceremony on Tuesday night before taking her seat and watching the Blue Demons launch their "Season of Redemption" against Texas Southern. Foremost on their minds is restoring a long-standing tradition of playing in the NCAA tournament.
DePaul's third-leading all-time scorer with 2,078 points will enjoy watching All-BIG EAST guards Lexi Held and Sonya Morris attack the visitors from the Lone Star State. She will smile at the youthful exuberance and abundance of talent from sophomore Darrione Rogers and 6-foot, 1-inch freshman Aneesah Morrow. She will notice the explosive outbursts from graduate students Deja Church and Dee Bekelja.
Memories will come rushing back as her old coach exhorts his current players in much the same fashion as back in 2004 when Quigley first suited up in blue.
Only now, Quigley has reached the mountaintop.
How cool is it that the Sky has forever secured its place in the pantheon of Chicago sports immortality right alongside the 2016 Cubs, 2005 White Sox, Michael Jordan's Bulls and their six NBA titles plus the 1985 Bears Super Bowl champs.
"It feels amazing to be a champion in Chicago, especially growing up in the Bulls era of greatness," Quigley said. "It's what you dream about as a kid. You wanna be like Mike.
"I hope now with us bringing a championship to Chicago, little girls and boys will want to be like me, Candace our legend, Courtney our amazing point guard---be like Kahleah our MVP. I hope this can inspire so many young kids to dream about a championship one day.
"I also hope it inspires the city to continue supporting us and pack Wintrust next year because that environment was truly a game-changer and helped us win."
There was a slice-of-life moment on that championship night when Allie sat on the floor with her sister Samantha Quigley's kids and other family members eating pizza like they were at a Quigley family gathering.
"I think the pictures and congratulations finally died down a bit and I could just sit down and relax with the people I love the most," Quigley said. "The people that have been on my basketball journey since I was a kid. The people that have been there through the good times and the heartbreaks of the game.
"They always think I'm the best no matter what the result, so it felt like a dream come true to be able to just celebrate and soak it all in with them."
The Blue Demon coach smiled at the memory of Allie working the Doug Bruno Camp as a counselor coach in the summer of 2013 when the entire camp attended a Sky game. Quigley was tethered to her 10 campers wherever they went including the concession stand and rest room.
A couple months later, the Bruno Camp was back at a Sky game. Only this time, Allie's kids were watching their counselor coach playing for the Sky.
"Kurt Warner went from stocking grocery store shelves to a Super Bowl champion quarterback, and Allie went from a camp counselor to a WNBA champion," Bruno said.
And now on Tuesday night on the same court of her greatest triumph, Allie Quigley will be honored by her alma mater.
"It's like a dream---I keep saying that," she started out. "That floor in Wintrust is magic, so to be able to go watch DePaul play and celebrate our championship a little more is going to be very special.
"My WNBA dream started at DePaul back in 2004. Now, 17 years later to be able to win a championship on DePaul's floor is a storybook ending."
"open" - Google News
November 09, 2021 at 06:27AM
https://ift.tt/3qBBXvt
Blue Demons Open 2021-22 Season on Allie Quigley Night - DePaul University Athletics - DePaul Blue Demons
"open" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bYShMr
https://ift.tt/3d2SYUY
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Blue Demons Open 2021-22 Season on Allie Quigley Night - DePaul University Athletics - DePaul Blue Demons"
Post a Comment