ST. JOSEPH, Mo. --- Tusculum College guard Brittni Oliver will be blogging from the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight in St. Joseph, Mo.

Oliver, a junior from Kokomo, Ind., is a Sport Management major and will be providing her daily thoughts of the teams activities during the Pioneers journey for a national championship.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Well game day was hard loss, but we have nothing to be disappointed about. The atmosphere was great. We had our middle school (Dekalb Middle School) that we went and did our community engagement with at the game. They were wearing orange and black and cheering for us when we came out. Gannon also had a middle school there supporting them. It was cute. It was like two cheer blocks going at each other to see who could be the loudest. Dekalb Middle School did a great job supporting us! Thank you!! :) I'm sure many watched the game - even people back atschool met in the Perk to watch the game. The school sent out a mass text to the students so they can gather in one room to support us. We have so many people behind us and it is a great feeling. Although we did not come out on top we have accomplished so much. In the locker room after the game, a few tears were shed, but coach told us to hold our heads up high. She praised us for accomplishments this year because we (as a community) BELIEVED we belonged there when no one else did. Jasmine Gunn, our leader, made it known in our locker that if she had to go to battle with anyone it would be those people in that locker room! Praises were given to our ONLY senior Kat Spears. She led us this far and we owe it all to her. After we left the locker room, Gannon's fans came to some of the players and said we played an excellent game and gave them a scare that they have never had. It was an excellent game to watch and that we are a tough team. On the flight back to home to TC, Brenica Shepard was having too much fun. Several players were acting as if they were on a roller coaster during take off. We enjoyed ourselves and tried to make the most of coming back home earlier than what we expected. As we arrived on campus, people were outside waiting for us with the pom-poms and cheering for us welcoming us back home as we represented them in the NCAA Elite Eight - the first time in school history! On behalf of the Women's basketball team, we want to say thank you to everyone who supported the Lady Pioneers and believed in us! We could not have done it without you guys! Thank you! And we will be back there next year, only to bring home the trophy as the Division II National Champions! GO TC! :)

Monday, March 22, 2010

Today has been a very busy and exciting day. It started off early with us giving back to the community. We headed to Missouri Western State
University to play with kids from Dekalb Middle School! We broke off into groups at different baskets and had about 15 kids (5th-8th grade). Kendal Baxter got beat by four boys in a three-point contest. She has a little competition with the kids. :) After fun and games Kat Spears and I talked to the kids about the importance of academics and being a student-athelete. We then gathered around to sign autographs. They did several cheers for us and joined in on our huddle for our pre-game chant. We enjoyed ourselves very much. That is what it is all about... giving back. Those kids will remember that experience for a life time and so will we. Later tonight we attended the Banquet of Champions where Jasmine Gunn was named to the All-America Team!!!!!!! :) What an accomplishment. Last year she was named 22nd and today she was named seventh. That is awesome. It is well deserved. She is an amazing player, a great leader and an outstanding person. The banquet was very nice, they had an ice sculpture of the NCAA Elite 8 logo and had a highlight video off all the teams. Of course many people were trying to figure out who we were, but I guess we'll have to leave our mark when we leave here with the National Championship trophy! :) Coach just came around and said lights out, so goodnight. We have a big game tomorrow!! GO TC!! :)

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Hi! This is Brittni Oliver of the Tusculum College women's basketball team. So today was the first day of our journey in bringing home the big trophy. Brenica Shephard, Kate Lowe, and Kendal Baxter started their morning off with their first flight ever. Kendal and Kate handled the flight pretty well. But Brenica on the other hand had a very interesting flight by screaming during take off and yelling when we were leveling out at 10,000 feet up in. When we landed in Missouri there was snow on the ground and it was 30 degrees and very windy wind (14 knots). We tried to give Coach Harris a hard time about leaving the 60 degree and sunny State of Tennessee and arriving here in thin black travel sweats. Not prepared for the weather change what so ever!! Thanks Coach!! :) After hours of sitting around waiting on our rooms to get ready, we headed to the gym for our 90-minute practice.Of course the first team we see is Gannon!! They were staring and pointing hard at Jasmine Gunn because I guess they could not believe how little she was. Oh well, I guess they will find out that big things come in small packages!!! HaHaHa! :) The first night has been very relaxed and everyone is trying to enjoy this moment! GO LADY PIONEERS!