By Bryan DeArdo
ST. LOUIS - With the Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season and Tournament Titles behind them, the Capital University women's basketball team has already achieved a great deal of success this season heading into the NCAA Division III Basketball Tournament this weekend.
Coach Dixie Jeffers, however, started the NCAA tournament trip to St. Louis Thursday morning by reminding her players that the biggest prize is still out there.
"This is what we're going for!" Jeffers said to her team, simultaneously raising her right fist to put emphasis on her 1995 National Champion ring. "Now let's go get it baby!"
The first step toward a third national championship begins in Saint Louis, where the Crusaders (22-5) have a date with host Washington University in St. Louis. The Bears (21-4) also have rings to show off, having won four national titles during the tenure of coach Nancy Fahey. Prior to the team's shoot around at Wash. U, Jeffers expressed her excitement for the matchup.
"Oh, we're pumped and ready for this game." Jeffers said. "We've played them two times already over the last two years and this one is the rubber match. They're the real deal, but we're ready to play."
The Bears defeated Capital 60-56 back on December 19 of this season during the Hanover College Eleanore Moyer classic. "We didn't start a lot of our normal starters for that game and were down 18 early. The girls came back strong and almost took the game," Jeffers said. "We're more prepared for them this time around. It should be a great game."
Judging from the team's demeanor today, December's loss to Wash. U is a distant memory. While postseason play can make teams tense and nervous, Capital seems ready for the challenge.
Between bites on their roast beef sandwiches and curly fries, conversations about recent NFL trades and MLB spring training dominated the discussions between the team during their lunch stop at Arby's in Indiana at around midday.
"I hope the Bengals can pick up T.O.", junior Kristin Richardson said, remarking on former Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens and his termination from the team.
On the bus, the biggest stress amongst the team was which movie the squad would watch next. After the team could not come to a decision, student assistant Gabrielle Guynan took matters into her own hands, deciding on a Seth Rogan classic, "Pineapple Express."
Aside from the movie, senior Daniele Sanna's cover story in Thursday's Columbus Dispatch also captivated some of the player's attention on the bus, as several copies of the article about the newly crowned OAC Player of the Year circulated throughout the trip.
The team arrived at the plush Sheridan Plaza around 4 p.m. Central Time. The relaxed atmosphere from the bus carried into the hotel, as Coach Jeffers toyed with her players by playing with the hotel's elevator buttons, continuously sending some members of the team back down the hotel lobby, prompting laughs from the rest of the team and staff.
Practice at Wash. U started at around 6:30 p.m. Immediately, the team's smiles from earlier in the day were switched to determined grimaces and focused stares. Jeffers' impending message to the team: "Remember, we are the aggressors. Don't forget that tonight. Don't forget that tomorrow."
Jeffers also noticed several of the Bear's championship banners that hang from Wash. U's stadium rafters. "Has their women's volleyball team ever lost?" said Jeffers, referring the volleyball team's nine national championship banners showcased under the east basket.
One reason the team seems so comfortable could derive from the fact that the squad had a January stretch of six consecutive road games.
"We feel at home on the road after the season we had," freshmen Kristyn Heagen said on the bus ride up. "We've gotten into a routine on the road and we take pride in how we play when we travel."
After a 40-minute practice, the team scurried down the road to Zia's Restaurant, an Italian eatery nestled in the middle of the city's Little Italy. The hungry team, and staff quickly devoured the cheese bread and house salad in preparation for the main course, which came at massive proportions. While the team's focus was on their succulent dishes, women's basketball athletics trainer Dan Clapper talked hockey and Michigan State football (where he graduated from in 2003), assistant coach Jason Wright fought off his diminishing appetite in an attempt to finish his meal, and the author of this piece enjoyed the best chicken marsala he has ever tasted.
A scenic route home from Zia's enabled the team to take in some of the sights at night of the Gateway to the West, which hopefully for the team will be the gateway to another championship.