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Post by ltbf on Mar 27, 2009 10:32:08 GMT -5
Attendance was given as 1600 and change; combined with Sunday, it's about 2700. This is the big ten? I wonder how many tickets Wisconsin had to eat? The Southern Tier is excited about this game.
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Post by towniegrad on Mar 27, 2009 11:26:23 GMT -5
I don't know how big wisconsin is ,but I'd guess the undergrad there is around 20,000 so they are apparently not all that into that.
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Post by ltbf on Mar 27, 2009 12:30:21 GMT -5
Enrollment 42,000. obviously there is not a great deal of interest in the program.
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Post by clubhouse on Mar 27, 2009 14:48:57 GMT -5
Considering the success UW has with other programs, I don't see the women's NIT being a huge draw. Even though the men's team is out of the tournament, I'd imagine the games last night kept people at home too.
I think part of the excitement for the Bonnies is that the men's team hasn't been in a tournament lately and this is the first time for the women. Basketball fans are looking for something to follow.
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Post by bonabacker95 on Mar 27, 2009 19:55:22 GMT -5
i was one of the students who traveled there to cheer on the ladies. we asked several people if they were going to the game and they would just be like what? women's basketball? their still playing?
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firk
Sophomore Member
Posts: 126
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Post by firk on Mar 27, 2009 20:26:19 GMT -5
POLLOCK: What a winning formula Bona women use for WNIT advance
St. Bonaventure’s winning formula in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament is simple.
In the first half, throw the ball all over the place, totally get out of sync on offense, play indifferent defense and get down by 14 at intermission.
That’s when the Bonnies have the opposition exactly where they want them.
At least the last two games.
On Saturday, coach Jim Crowley’s hoops crew delighted a record crowd of over 2,000 at the Reilly Center by digging out of just such a hole to down West Virginia, 68-63, to prevail in a second-round game.
But last night in Madison, the Bonnies one-upped that performance, again falling behind by 14 at halftime, and this time rallying for a 56-51 win over Wisconsin.
The victory thrust St. Bonaventure into the WNIT’s Elite Eight and brought it back to the RC for a quarterfinal game against South Florida on Sunday afternoon.
“I CAN’T say enough about this team and the way it plays for each other,” Crowley admitted after his team bottled up the Badgers in the second half. “On Saturday, I felt that we could come back (against West Virginia). But (last night) at halftime, I had a bad feeling. We hadn’t shown we could do it on the road and it was like, ‘Well, we had a good run...’”
But he didn’t rant.
“At this point in the season, you don’t do that,” Crowley said. “What disappointed me most was that we played so poorly ... probably the worst half since St. Louis.
“What I told them was what we had to do to correct it.”
He did mention one thing.
“I told them that the WNIT people had said to me that if we won, the next game would be at home,” Crowley recalled. “I don’t know if it made a difference, but I do know that they’ve enjoyed the (media) coverage and the community support.”
“I told them that the WNIT people had said to me that if we won, the next game would be at home,” Crowley recalled. “I don’t know if it made a difference, but I do know that they’ve enjoyed the (media) coverage and the community support.”
And so, apparently, has the WNIT hierarchy.
“The tournament isn’t run by the NCAA, it’s a private corporation.” Crowley explained. “They were really enthused last Saturday by the crowd, the students rushing the court and the coverage. That’s how they make decisions on who gets the home court.”
AND IT doesn’t hurt that, in back-to-back games, the Bonnies, a small, rural mid-major dismissed Big East and Big 10 teams, the latter on its home court.
“I kind of have to pinch myself ... it still hasn’t set in,” Crowley said. “It sounds funny to say it, ‘St. Bonaventure in the Elite Eight of the WNIT.”
But the fans believe.
The Bonnies’ faithful are so starved for the buzz of post-season - the men haven’t been in the NIT since 2002 - they’ve adopted the Bona women, who had never played in a post-season tournament until six days ago.
And why not?
Did you ever imagine Crowley’s Bonnies would still be playing after Pat Summitt’s Tennessee squad was bounced out of the NCAAs?
Now Bona has won twice in impressive comeback fashion, though Crowley quickly concedes, “I wish we’d do it a little easier.
“But there is something special about this team ... it’s kind of indescribable. They’re committed to each other, the school and the community. And it’s made this run all the more fun.”
For everybody.
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Post by no1stunna on Mar 27, 2009 21:34:51 GMT -5
Rumor has it that on Friday somewhere close to 2,500 tickets for Bonnies-USF were sold.
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Post by landerjp on Mar 28, 2009 7:24:43 GMT -5
There were four Bona students at the game in Madison. We drove 11 hours out there and screamed louder than all of the badger fans combined.
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Post by fjs64 on Mar 28, 2009 8:25:20 GMT -5
There were four Bona students at the game in Madison. We drove 11 hours out there and screamed louder than all of the badger fans combined. The camera was on you guys near the end of the game...... |
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