Feeling of heartbreak for athletes will linger

Unfortunately, this is going to be a story that is told over and over and over again in the coming weeks.

Disappointment and heartbreak and emptiness in the sports world is heavy in the wake of the coronavirus.

So much unfinished business ... the high school sports teams that were still in the mix for a state championship only to be cut off at the knees with the abrupt end of their seasons, the college teams that compete in the spring but have already had their seasons canceled, the seniors whose athletic careers are over long before they should be.

The Northwestern women's basketball team fits into this mold, full of excitement, confidence and hope just three days ago, now spiraling in a sea of questions and disbelief and unprecedented disappointment.

The Wildcats put together their best regular season in decades, winning the Big Ten championship this winter for the first time in 30 years. All signs pointed to Northwestern getting a great seed and hosting the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Until they suddenly didn't.

Until there was no longer an NCAA tournament. Because of coronavirus.

The NCAA canceled both the men's and women's postseason college basketball tournaments on Thursday due to concerns over coronavirus and its now elevated status to a global pandemic.

Like so many athletes, both in high school and in college, the Wildcats, who had finished the Big Ten tournament and were waiting for the NCAA tournament to begin, will not get the opportunity to finish what they started. They will not get the opportunity to see how good they really are or could be.

A legitimate ending? Nope. Closure? Sorry.

It's an uneasy, unsettling, distressing feeling that will likely sit with these athletes, particularly the seniors, for years.

"It's so hard to get your arms around this," Northwestern women's coach Joe McKeown said. "It's just sad and disappointing. It's such a shame.

"Obviously, there is a bigger picture to this. And you need to do what's safe. But if you are a senior, and we have five, this is just really hard. There are no great answers for you."

So, all the Wildcats can do now is take comfort in their memories of this season, one of the most special in the history of the program.

Northwestern reached as high as No. 11 in the national polls and would have taken a 26-4 record into the NCAA tournament.

McKeown was very deservedly named the Big Ten coach of the year while Veronica Burton was named the Big Ten's defensive player of the year.

Two Wildcats, Lindsey Pulliam and Abi Scheid, one of the five seniors, were first-team all-Big Ten selections and Pulliam was a unanimous choice.

Burton made second-team all-Big Ten and Abbie Wolf and Sydney Wood were honorable mention.

"I think one of the great things about our team this year is that they played together and had fun," McKeown said. "They caught fire in the Big Ten because they shared the ball, they played together and there was just this fun vibe about them that helped us win games and that caught on with people. We really started getting a following as the season went on."

Fans, particularly student fans, filled Northwestern's beautiful new arena at a rate that hadn't been seen there in years. Many players from the football team became women's basketball die-hards. The Wildcats even started to travel well, bringing a crowd to road games.

"Our kids loved it when fans came out to their games and they embraced that and interacted with the fans," McKeown said. "And I think that (genuineness) was reciprocated and that's been fun."

This ending, though? Not so much fun.

McKeown, who has been out recruiting for the last week, is anxious to get back to campus to console his players, who are preparing for exams and trying to understand the crazy events of the last couple days.

"What happened to us this year was special," McKeown said. "It's been 30 years (since a conference title), we had built so much momentum with our fans, we were getting great crowds, it was such a great season.

"That's what I'm going to tell our kids, especially our seniors. What happened this season is a great legacy for them, no matter what."

Follow Patricia on Twitter: @babcockmcgraw