There's more to college basketball than Tennessee, Memphis, and UConn and it's on display starting this weekend when the NCAA Women's Division 3 Regional Basketball games begin Friday at 16 locations throughout the country. Sixty-three teams qualified or were named to the tournament, and for the second year in a row the Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team (25-2) is one of them!
IWU -- with starters Mallory Heydorn (yes, my junior daughter!), Crystal Dye, Sarah Bull, Claire Sheehan, Christina Solari, and a deep and effective bench -- won the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) conference tournament last Saturday. They will host the first round of the NCAA Division 3 regionals Friday in Bloomington, IL.
The IWU Titans will play the Maryville University (St. Louis) Saints at 8:00 Friday night. That game will be preceded by Manchester College (IN) Spartans against University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks. The Warhawks are just down the road from Pavement's Fort Atkinson, WI, headquarters. The winners of each game will play Saturday at 7:00.
Those who attend the game not only will get to see some of the best basketball in the Midwest, they'll also get to hear The World's Most Dangerous Pep Band play the "The Star-Spangled Banner" the way it's meant to be played -- plus the swingingest "Hey Baby" you'll hear on a basketball court.
Good luck IWU!
Congrats to IWU women's basketball!
March 4, 2008
