ST. JOSEPH, Mo. --- It was a very busy day for the Tusculum College women's basketball team at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. The Pioneers (23-9) continue to make their preparations for Tuesday night's national quarterfinal match-up against top-ranked Gannon University. The game will be played at the St. Joseph Civic Center and will tip-off at 7 p.m. (EST).
Monday's schedule included a community engagement program with a local elementary school, the Pioneers' first official practice at the Civic Center, a national press conference involving head coach Adell Harris and the NCAA Banquet of Champions, that included the naming of the WBCA DII All-America Team.
As part of the NCAA Division II Initiative, all participating teams at the Elite Eight were involved in a community engagement activity. Tusculum's program was with Dekalb Middle School, which is located in St. Joseph. Nearly 100 children were in attendance as they welcomed Coach Harris and the Pioneers with thunderous applause and cheers. Students held up numerous signs that read, "Go TC", "We Love the Pioneers" and "Tusculum, Fight, Fight, Fight." Some of the children even had their hair painted orange and black.
Each member of the Tusculum team introduced themselves, telling the students their name and where they were from. The Dekalb students gave each member of the team a hand-made gift basket, which was personalized for each player.
The children were broken up into groups where the Pioneers led them in various basketball shooting games, with the winners received Tusculum Pioneer wrist bands. Several of the children took a shine to numerous players, but especially Southeast Region Player of the Year Jasmine Gunn (Nashville, Tenn.), senior forward Kat Spears (Memphis, Tenn.) and junior center Catherine Hintz (Hastings, Minn.).
Following the games, all the students huddled at mid-court with Coach Harris as she spoke about the importance of academics and how success in the classroom will benefit them later in life. Junior Brittni Oliver (Kokomo, Ind.) also spoke to the children about the importance of excelling in the classroom, while also maintaining good time management skills.
Coach Harris and players also informed the students of the rich history of Tusculum College and Greeneville, Tenn.
Following the 90-minute program, students were given t-shirts, along with Tusculum posters, key chains and other mementos of the program. Tusculum players and coaches also autographed t-shirts and posters for the kids. The children, as well as the Tusculum players all had a wonderful time.
The team went straight from the MWSU campus to the Civic Arena where they practiced for 55 minutes on the main game floor. Following practice, Gunn and Hintz were interviewed by sportscaster Craig Smylie of WJET-TV of Erie, Pa., the home of Gannon University.
Following practice, the team returned to their hotel headquarters for lunch and rested after a busy morning and early afternoon.
Coach Harris returned to the Civic Arena later in the day as she and the other head coaches in the Elite Eight, spoke to media from all over the country about Tuesday's games. Coach Harris was asked about the Gannon Lady Knights (36-0), as well as her team.
In the evening, the Pioneers returned to the Missouri Western campus for the Banquet of Champions. Following dinner, all eight teams were introduced followed by the announcement of the 10-member WBCA All-America Team. Six of the 10 honorees are in this year's Elite Eight field, including Tusculum's Jasmine Gunn.
The Pioneers returned to the hotel for a team meeting to watch film on Gannon and prepare for Tuesday's game.
Fans will be able to watch the Tusculum/Gannon game on-line at NCAA.com at the following link: http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=174113.
The game will be broadcast on the Pioneer Sports Network, locally on WSMG 1450-AM and WIKQ 103.1 FM in Greeneville and on the Tusculum Athletic Web Site (www.tusculumpioneers.com). The Pioneer Pre-Game Show begins at 6:30 p.m. (EST) with the "Voice of the Pioneers" Brian Stayton.
- TC -
