Victory buzz hits campus
Jason McFarley
News Editor
Sunday night the Notre Dame community watched the women's basketball team win the national championship game against Purdue in St. Louis.
On Monday all it wanted to do was talk about it.
"The atmosphere on campus was very exciting and positive. The mood today was a carry over from the excitement last night," sophomore Matt Smith said.
"You could sense the enthusiasm from everyone talking about it in class and on the quads today," Linda Melchor, also a sophomore, said.
Smith was among a crowd of about 1,500 who welcomed the team back to campus around 2:30 a.m. Monday at Main Circle. The students braved the early-morning cold while cheering and waving signs in celebration of the victory.
The win set off an explosion in school pride — in female athletics in particular.
Signs on residence halls and at the Joyce Center announced the newly acquired title and offered public testament to campus-wide support of the nation's top women's team.
"This is an all-time high that I've seen for support of women's sports," Smith said. "I spoke to [sophomore guard] Alicia Ratay and told her the team had done a monumental thing," Smith said.
As part of the team's banquet Sunday, the University will sponsor a pep rally open to the public at 3 p.m. at the Joyce Center. Sports information officials said Monday that the event will include tournament game highlights and put on display the national championship trophy.
Brooke Norton, student body president, said the Office of the President will likely sponsor the pep rally in conjunction with the University. She said student government officials are optimistic that they can hold an event on behalf of the student body before Sunday.
"I think a group should organize something to show appreciation for the team's hard work and success," Melchor said.
"Any chance we can, we'd like to show more support for the team," said Smith, president of the Class of 2003.
On Monday if the public was reveling in being part of the University's first-ever women's basketball title, then it was also trying to get their hands on tangible evidence of it.
In addition to increased sales, inquiries about championship merchandise poured into the Hammes Bookstore, according to Jim O'Connor, director of retail operations.
"We started off with good business this morning," O'Connor said. "The really dramatic increase has been in the phone calls and e-mails from people wanting to know about merchandise availability. There has been nationwide interest in sharing the success of the women's program."
The bookstore sold out of several styles of T-shirts and sweatshirts Monday. About 15 other items including pins, pennants, hats and other apparel are expected to go on sale today.
All News Stories for Tuesday, April 3, 2001
