Meribeth Boehler had just put her team on her back again, scoring 30 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in leading the Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions to a 78-62 win over Shorter (Ga.) University in the opening round of the NAIA Division I Women's National Tournament on Thursday night in Jackson, Tenn.'s, Oman Arena.

One might think that she'd have a general idea that she might be getting close to 30 points, what with having done it in over 20 percent of her games this season.  One would also be wrong.

When told after the game that she had gone for 30 and 14, her jaw dropped a little bit.

"I thought I had like 17," she said.

It would be understandably easy for a player like Boehler to let her success go to her head.  On Tuesday night, she was named the State Farm/WBCA NAIA National Player of the Year.  But personal accolades don't mean a lot to a girl who is used to being more of a role player than a go-to player.

"I've always been the role player, behind the scenes and was comfortable with that," said Boehler.  "This year, now that I am the go-to person, I feel like it's been worth it to put in the time I have and to be ready and able to step up.  It's not so much that I've improved, there was never the opportunity."

Boehler showed flashes of that ability in the past, like putting up back-to-back double-doubles - 22 points and 13 rebounds followed by 25 points and 16 rebounds - during her sophomore season when FHU's All-American post Jana Cross was sidelined with an injury.  As a junior, she averaged over 18 points per game in the month of February while still sharing the post with Cross.

But not until this her senior year was she called upon to be the one to shoulder the load.

All Boehler has done with that responsibility is put together one of the finest seasons in the history of Freed-Hardeman Lady Lion basketball.  After her 30-point performance tonight, she is six points away from breaking the program's single-season scoring record of 781, held by the all-time leading scorer Qiana Elam.  She already will set the single-season scoring average record, upping it to 23.5 points after tonight.  She also set a new record for most 30-point games in a season with seven.  Had Boehler not played three seasons behind a four-time NAIA All-American in Cross, we might be counting down toward the career record in addition to the single season record.

The record-chasing and accolades go on but despite it all, Boehler has been more than able to keep a level head.

"I don't think about it at the moment," she said.  "People talk about it all the time but it hasn't sunk in yet.  I just try to take one game at a time and to not have any regrets." 

"As long as our team is successful, that is my main goal."

Oh, and she's done it while facing double-teams, triple-teams and yes, quadruple-teams for most of the season.  Teams know they cannot guard her one-on-one or give her any space to operate, and so they try to get very physical with her in the post.  It goes with the territory and she knows what is coming every time she steps on the floor.

"The most difficult is taking my time and not getting frustrated," she said.  "I always ask [my teammates] where the help is coming from.  Once I find that out, it makes it a lot easier.  Usually wherever teams help from, they stick to it [for the game]."

"I just try to keep a level head and not get frustrated.  When I am frustrated I can't function as well."

What has gone unmentioned, though, is the fact that while Boehler has a good portion of God-given ability, she has still worked incredibly hard to get the most out of it.  Even before her freshman year, she spent hour after hour in the gym at Freed-Hardeman working on her game.  It's that rare combination of talent and work ethic that helped turn Boehler into one of the best players in the NAIA.

"I haven't had a summer off since I started, the summer before freshman year," said Boehler.  "Then I was introduced to [former Memphis State player] Don Holcomb who was a blessing.  He really helped with my confidence and fundamentals.  Also, playing with Jana Cross and going against her in practice helped me learn all the tricks in post play I never knew about."

FHU head coach Dale Neal has coached plenty of All-Americans in his 17 years at Freed-Hardeman, but few have had the drive for success that Boehler has.

"When we had a Kodak All-American a few years ago, we asked her if she had another year would she want it, and she wasn't sure," said Neal.  "When we asked Meribeth, she said she didn't want another year.  She wanted four more years."

"When you have someone who loves the game that much and wants to get better, it's a blessing."

One of the things that sets Boehler apart, according to Neal, is not just the amount of time she puts in on her own, but how she works.

"If somebody goes in and watches her, it's full speed," he said.  "It's like someone is guarding her all the time.  You don't see any walking in her workouts.  It's not just the quantity but the quality."

Obviously, the end of Boehler's career is near, possibly as near as Friday.  And though she won't be on the court next season, her legacy has an opportunity to carry on for a long time afterward, there to provide future players with a benchmark to shoot for and a formula to go by.

Neal recalled part of that example from a couple of years back.

"One year, she watched [NCAA Women's] Final Four on TV," he said, "and came to my office with ideas on what she should be doing from watching that."

"Players like that can make a good coach out of somebody."

After the next-to-last coaches poll of the year, released on Monday, Feb. 28, it looked like the Freed-Hardeman Lions would have to win the TranSouth Conference tournament in order to gain a bid to the national tournament.

Now, that may not necessarily be the case.

In that last poll, the Lions were ranked No. 35, leaving them a few spots short of being in the right position to get an at-large bid to Kansas City. But after an impressive 95-76 win at No. 9 Union (Tenn.) University in the conference semifinals, coupled with some losses by teams directly ahead of FHU in that poll, the Lions may still be able to sneak in an at-large bid even if they do not get the conference's automatic bid that goes to the tournament champion.

So what has to happen for FHU to get ranked high enough in the final poll on March 9 to get an at-large bid should the Lions lose on Tuesday in the conference finals?

The short answer is that the raters have to vote them there, which is cause for some concern given the national raters' respect, or lack thereof, of the TranSouth Conference in the last two seasons. The TSAC received only one bid to the tournament last year and, although it has two teams in the top 10 in the last poll, the conference has never had more than two teams in the top 25 since the second poll of the regular season on Dec. 13.

That said, though, the Lions have some things that could work in their favor.

Of the five teams directly in front of FHU in the last poll, three have been eliminated from their conference tournaments and one has been eliminated from the post-season altogether. Here is a look at the teams in FHU's general neighborhood and a little conjecture on what might happen:

* No. 30 Montana Western lost in its conference semifinals to No. 23 Montana Northern. Probably not a loss that would drop them out of the tournament picture.
* No. 31 John Brown (Ark.) College lost in its conference quarterfinals to Northwestern Oklahoma State, which may or may not be a condemning loss. More on that in a moment.
* No. 32 Texas College is out of the picture after the recent discovery that it had used ineligible players. That's definitely a condemning loss.
* No. 33 Westmont (Calif.) was bounced in the conference quarterfinals by Fresno Pacific (Calif.), one of four teams receiving one vote in the last poll. Probably enough to bounce Westmont out of the picture.
* No. 34 Park (Mo.) could cause some problems, though, after beating No. 16 Columbia (Mo.) in its conference semis. The Pirates face No. 21 McKendree (Ill.) in the championship game and a win would get them an auto berth. Otherwise they will likely be in the same boat as FHU, just sitting in the front of that boat while the Lions sit in the back.
* No. 36 Northwestern Oklahoma State, which was one spot behind the Lions, pulled off upsets of John Brown and No. 10 Oklahoma Baptist before falling in the SAC tournament finals to No. 14 Southern Nazarene (Okla.).  It's possible we could see JBU and NWOSU flip spots in the poll, which means FHU would not gain a spot from JBU's loss.  It's also posssible, though a bit more unlikely, that both teams stay in front of the Lions, and that's not a good thing.

So again, the real question is, how will the conference raters view the losses and the wins by the teams currently on the bubble?

The Lions certainly have a tournament-worthy resume with wins over No. 6 Martin Methodist, No. 9 Union, No. 21 McKendree and two wins over No. 14 Lee. Of those who have pulled upsets in their conference tournaments, FHU has the most impressive victory, a 19-point win on the road against the ninth-ranked team.  Also, of the teams on the bubble, FHU has at least two more wins over current top 25 teams (five) than any other team except Park, which has four.

It should be enough to get the Lions back to Kansas City for the second time in three years.

But will it be enough? Obviously, FHU can make all the conjecture go away by beating Martin Methodist on Tuesday night. If, however, it doesn't happen that way, we'll have to wait until March 9 to have a better idea.

And if nothing else at this point, the Lions are still in the conversation. Which is never a bad thing.