It ain't over until 'she' sings

Four and a half minutes. \nFour and a half minutes and IU's season could have been wrapped up with a nice little bow and shipped out to sea.\nAnd then I saw it. The one thing every sports fan fears for his/her respective time.\nSix rows behind the Hoosier bench, seated in a homemade sweatshirt with the likeness of Rob Lowe printed extra large on the front, holding her Big Gulp Diet Coke with Lime sat the proverbial and nameless fat lady.\nMichigan's Dion Harris just completed a three-point play to give the Wolverines a one point advantage with four and a half minutes remaining.\nAttempts to make the Big Gulp fit in the cup holder prove futile as the cup eventually is placed on the ground between her size 11 Hush Puppies. She gets to her feet and begins to warm her larynx, the one that 10 years earlier gave away and cost her an audition with Wilson Phillips. \nDown to Michigan by a point in Ann Arbor, the Hoosiers -- losers of four consecutive road games -- faced the daunting task of returning Ms. X back to her seat. Another loss and IU's hopes of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament would follow the path of Ben Affleck's career. The team's tournament hopes would hinge on capturing the Big Ten tournament title and the automatic bid the winner receives.\nA sheepish grin appears across the plus-sized siren's face. She has been waiting for this moment and didn't expect her services would be needed until next week's match-up versus Michigan State. Now, summoned a week early, Ms. X gently begins to rub her throat as she removes the lyrics to Daryl Hall and John Oates' '80s power ballad "Maneater" from her purse.\nMike Davis takes a glance behind him. With a shake of the head, he turns his attention back to the court and puts a finger in the air to alert his players of Ms. X's presence.\nFifty-one seconds after Michigan had retaken the lead, IU's much maligned point guard Marshall Strickland drilled a three-pointer, restoring the Hoosier lead and spearheading an 8-0 run to secure the IU victory.\nMs. X plops down in her seat dejected, wanting the Hoosiers' season to come to a quick end so she can head west to thwart the Clippers' renewed optimism.\nWith Sunday's win, the Hoosiers' postseason hopes (NIT, I'm looking in your direction) remain alive and delays the songstress' wail. A loss to Michigan, coupled with Wednesday's defeat at Ohio State would have sealed the Hoosiers' fate. Now, with hope still alive IU can only hope the fat lady stays away.\nUnfortunately, she won't. She'll be in attendance Tuesday. She'll be in attendance Sunday. Ms. X will loom as long as the Hoosiers stay alive.\nAnd as long as she keeps quiet, I don't think any of us will mind.\nFifty-one seconds after Michigan had retaken the lead, IU's much maligned point guard Marshall Strickland drilled a three-pointer, restoring the Hoosier lead and spearheading an 8-0 run to secure the IU victory. \nDavis turns around one more time, focuses six rows up, winks and mouths, "See you on Tuesday"