By Tyler Diedrich
Editor-in-chief
St. Bonaventure will host an NCAA Selection Show party Monday in the Reilly Center. The women’s basketball team is expected to earn its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid despite losing in the Atlantic 10 championship game last Monday to Dayton, 56-53.
Doors open at 6:15 p.m., with a highlight video and player introductions beginning at 6:40 before ESPN’s selection telecast takes over a large TV screen at 7. Admission is free.
SBU-TV Sports will stream the event live on GoBonnies.com.
Coach Jim Crowley and the Bonnies’ captains will speak immediately after learning the team’s first-round draw.
“Coach Crowley and the team have been so grateful for the outpouring of support for the team that they hope as many students and community members as possible can attend to share in this remarkable moment of achievement with them,” Sister Margaret Carney, O.S.F., university president, said in a press release Wednesday.
T-shirts will be sold on Bob Lanier Court following the bracket’s unveiling, and prizes – including an iPad – will be given out to mobile-device contest winners before ESPN’s broadcast begins and during its commercial breaks.
Jason MacBain, assistant sports information director, wrote in an email Athletics is attempting to have an ESPN camera inside the Reilly Center to show Bonaventure’s reaction on national TV.
“It very well could be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for everyone to partake in,” MacBain wrote. “That’s not to say the program can’t get to the NCAA Tournament on a consistent basis, but just to know that even without winning the A-10 we’re a lock to get in. That’s an attitude that hasn’t been felt at this school in at least 25 years and is one that not many schools our size ever get to experience.”
St. Bonaventure would have earned an automatic bid to the tournament with a win against Dayton, but the Associated Press No. 16 Bonnies (29-3, 14-0) are all but guaranteed a spot in the 64-team field.
The university also plans to host a sendoff celebration for the team when it leaves for its first-round game, and Athletics hopes for transportation for students to the tournament if it’s within a drivable distance, according to MacBain. Details are expected to be announced after the team’s travel plans are finalized Tuesday.
diedrits@bonaventure.edu
