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Jody Buckley
Today we look back at a memorable moment from a dozen years ago, when an injured Jody Buckley scored her final collegiate point. This story was part of the 25th Anniversary celebration of Ivy women in athletics.

With 13 seconds left in overtime in the 1994 battle between co-Ivy League champions Brown and Dartmouth for the right to claim the League's first automatic bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament, Bears' senior center Jody Buckley hit the biggest shot of her career. It wasn't a clutch turn-around jump shot, nor did it win the game. In fact, Brown already had secured the victory with an incredible 18-point offensive explosion in the overtime period. Rather, this was simply a lone foul shot that proved to be the game's final point and Buckley's most memorable moment.

Two months earlier, Buckley had suffered a devastating knee injury that prematurely ended her season and her basketball career at Brown. For the remainder of the year, she volunteered as an assistant student coach, an inspirational force and cheerleader on the sidelines. With her team on the verge of its title-clinching triumph over Dartmouth, Buckley checked into the game amidst thunderous cheers from the crowd. She was fouled after having collected a rebound and found herself at the free throw line, where she swished one of two shots. The building swelled with emotion as a mixture of tears and applause erupted from thousands of delirious fans, a powerful expression of appreciation, of closure.

The shot provided a stirring and fitting finale to what had been a monumental season for the Brown women's basketball team and an emotional one for Buckley. In the words of head coach Jean Marie Burr, "For her to get to the line was outstanding. It's something beyond the game itself. It was a great tribute to the effort and work she has done as a player and as a leader." Buckley called it "one of the best moments of my life."

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