Bradley women beat Indiana State
From Jenny Van Kirk ‘10…
The excitement amongst Bradley women’s basketball fans has grown exponentially in the last few hours. We have survived and advanced another day with our 70-49 win over Indiana State this afternoon. Our team fought extremely hard and played with an incredible amount of energy and intensity to pull away in the second half. We are obviously pleased with the victory, but we have more business to do before we leave. Our team is not done yet. The motto for this weekend is “survive and advance.” We are fully aware that the only thing guaranteed to our team is the semifinal game tomorrow, and we are fighting to keep playing another day.
The conference tournament is a very unique and thrilling experience, and we must stay focused to avoid getting wrapped up in the hype. There are some distractions, but overall, our pre-game routines and preparations have remained the same. This morning we left the hotel at 8:30 a.m. for our shootaround at the Family Arena. Normally we have an hour on the court, but today we only had twenty minutes. Although we could have let this become an issue in our preparation, we had a very productive twenty minutes. Following shootaround, we watched film and ate breakfast as a team for pre-game meal. Another special part of the conference tournament is the send-off we receive from the band, cheerleaders, and fans. It is what I call a “goose-bump moment,” because it is great motivation to see the support our team has and we are so appreciative. Following the game, our team and fans gathered at the hotel for cake for Coach Garber’s birthday. She said she has never received a birthday gift this good! We are now relaxing at the hotel before another team dinner tonight. Preparation for tomorrow’s game against Evansville will also begin tonight after dinner, as we continue our business in St. Charles.
There is something special about our team this year. We are like one big family, and we enjoy spending time with each other on and off the court. I think the fans have picked up on this, and they have all jumped on the train to support us on this ride. We’re not sure where it will take us, but we have our goals set. We are dreaming big.