Elite Eight

The DePauw women won a nail-biter last night. Wheaton came to play, with a good number of orange-clad fans in the bleachers. The final score, 69-60, doesn't really reflect how close the game was. For almost the entire game the two teams were within 4 points of each other. DePauw led for much of the game, but Wheaton did hold the lead at enough points to make me very nervous. The student turnout was great, so much that many students were forced to sit in non-student sections. I played in the pep band (trumpet, not cornetto), both to save money and to show support both for the team and for my students who are involved with the band. We sit right next to the student section, so I was more aware of small shenanigans that go on, including very wacky costumes. The noise was incredible, and the level of play was great.

Unfortunately, both of my alma maters fared worse last night. The Lawrence men's team, though ranked #1, fell to Illinois Wesleyan in a very close game (71-68). I tried to listen to the game as webcast by Lawrence's campus "radio" station, but I have not been able to get their webcasts to work. And the Rochester women lost to Scranton, 68-63. This was probably a good thing, otherwise they could have ended up playing DePauw in the final four.

Tonight we play Hope College. Tremble with fear, you Flying Dutch(men)! There is no Senta at Neal Fieldhouse to redeem you tonight.