The season was only six games old, with at least 19 more to play, but Melissa Macchi was stuck on Salem State's first loss, to fellow unbeaten Tufts on Tuesday night.
She wasn't thinking about her 9 points or her five rebounds. She was stuck on the play in which she left her assignment to help out on defense, allowing the player she was defending to drain a wide-open 3-pointer, sparking Tufts on a run that ultimately decided the game in a 70-55 loss.
She tried to talk about it after the game, but every syllable was forced through gritted teeth.
What she did get across is that this season and every game in it is important.
"It means a lot to me because I want to do more than get to the first round," she said. "We all want it really bad."
Macchi grew up right across the street from Salem State. She terrorized the Greater Boston League as a guard for Peabody High, playing the same quick and aggressive brand of basketball she now delivers for the Vikings.
Being so close to the school, she knew the Lady Vikings' resume bullet point by bullet point.
The program hadn't had a losing season since head coach Tim Shea took over in 1981. The Vikings have won 22 Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference regular-season titles and 16 postseason tournament championships. Salem has dominated the MASCAC, with a 318-25 record against conference opponents.
The Vikings played in the NCAA tournament seven straight seasons from 1999 to 2005, missing the tournament the past two years.
The last time Salem was selected, Macchi was a freshman. Down to her last season, she wants to add another item to the list come next March.
Shea said he will depend on the two-time all-conference player to be a leader.
"We're going to put the ball in her hands a lot," Shea said. "We're going to put the game on her shoulders. She's one of our leaders. She's proven herself time and time again. She'll be on the court in crunch time."
Macchi is one of a handful of Vikings guards that jump passing lanes, force turnovers, and start fast breaks, which Shea said is exactly what he wants his team to do.
The Lady Vikings are stocked with local players who come off the bench and provide a spark. Lauren Wholley, a junior from Danvers who attended the Pingree School in Hamilton and transferred from Elmira College, is a key rebounder.
A pair of sophomore guards, Lynn Classical graduate Manise Louinord and Kerry Stokes, a Triton Regional graduate from Newbury, bring fresh legs to the running game.
Through the first four games of the season, Salem State was tied for second in scoring in the MASCAC with 64.5 points per game, but it had held teams to 46.8 a night, by far the stingiest clip in the conference.
"We want to run," Shea said. "I think you need to be a running team to win the biggest games. You need to take advantage of teams. You need to be a good transition team both to defense and to offense."
The problem: Fitchburg State and Bridgewater State are doing the same thing, and doing it a little better. Shea calls his sophomore center Danielle Jenkins "pretty good," but readily admits that when the fast break game isn't clicking, she gives the Vikings another dimension.
"I think we should be good enough to press and to push it and to convert on good shots," Shea said. "If we don't have a good one, we put the brakes on and we dump it in."
Jenkins, from Marlborough, has become one of the Vikings' most reliable scoring options, averaging 14.4 points per night. She stuck Babson College for 21 points and 15 rebounds late last month, and put up 19 and eight against Tufts.
She said some teams are starting to key on her more, compared with last season when no one saw her coming. Shea said if teams plan to have any success against the Vikings, they're going to have to focus on Jenkins.
"She is a very high-quality offensive player," Shea said. "If somebody's going to beat us, they're going to have to stop Danielle."
There is still the matter of the Vikings' pursuit of a 23d regular-season championship and a 17th tournament title, and the pressure that comes with tradition. But Shea said it was a non-issue.
"We don't put it on them at all," Shea said. "This is this year's team. I could care less. This is Salem State's current team and the only expectations we put on them is to be the best possible team. I know it's easy for me to say that. They may feel the pressure of the tradition, but I try to downplay it."
