Ritchie makes dad’s bracket shine

Based solely on principle, Adrian Ritchie and her father, Dick, would always pencil in Wisconsin-Green Bay to the Sweet 16 when they would fill out their women’s NCAA Tournament bracket.

The prediction never came true, but the Ritchies kept attending every Phoenix home game while Adrian grew up 15 minutes away in De Pere, Wis.

Adrian didn’t fill out a bracket this year, but her dad did. Finally, the selection came to fruition.

It was a surreal experience for Dick to drive down to Wichita on Tuesday night to see his daughter lead to the Phoenix to the final 16 teams. She scored a game-high 20 points in Green Bay’s 65-56 victory over Michigan State at Intrust Bank Arena.

“It was the most gratifying moment as a parent that I’ll ever have, no doubt in my mind,” Dick said. “You follow your kid and her dream has always been to play college basketball since the third grade. We filled out those brackets every year. This is such an unbelievable feeling.”

For Adrian, it was fulfilling a childhood dream.

“Green Bay women’s basketball was just like a part of who I was growing up,” Ritchie said. “I knew this was where I wanted to go.”

Green Bay, mostly composed of small-town Wisconsin women, was able to knock off the Big Ten regular-season champion through steady team play. But it was Ritchie who delivered the shot of confidence early.

She made back-to-back three-pointers in a matter of 30 seconds to force a Michigan State timeout and give Green Bay a 25-16 lead with 5:04 left in the first half.

“She stepped up and made plays,” Green Bay coach Matt Bollant said. “We need different kids to step up. That’s a powerful thing as a player, when you really believe the ball is going in and the ball should be in your hands. That’s a confidence that you can’t teach.”

Throughout the game, whenever the Phoenix needed a basket, it seemed like Ritchie was always there. Her three-pointer with 11:11 left gave them some breathing room at 44-40 when they were fighting off a Michigan State run.

And then it was Ritchie in the waning seconds, making two free throws to ensure the victory.

“When I was little, I always believed in this program,” she said. “I wanted to be apart of it so bad and now it is so meaningful and so close to my heart. I love this program to death and to be living it is just unreal. We’re going to make this last as long as we can.”

When those last free throws fell through the net, Dick was in the stands crying. The same little girl he coached as a third-grader had grown up to be the woman who sent their favorite team to their first Sweet 16.“To see him in the stands tonight, it was just such a confidence boost,” Adrian said. “To know he was thereæ.æ.æ. it definitely brought a smile.”

This story was originally published March 23, 2011 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Ritchie makes dad’s bracket shine."