In Our View: Women’s basketball team needs university, fan support

By: [no author name found]
As the women’s basketball team boards a bus to head to State College, PA, to play in the first and possibly second round game in the Mideast Regional of the NCAA Tournament, they leave behind an empty Golden Panther Arena: An all-too familiar site for the players and coaches.

As the football push continues to swarm over the university, the women’s basketball team has put together one of the best teams in its history. Yet, the seats remain empty, the cheers come from family and friends.

What else can really be asked from a team that does exactly what it’s supposed to: win games?

As the 26-5 Golden Panthers head into the tournament, the university and its students need to get behind a team that’s played their hearts out all season. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say FIU would be hosting one of the regional games if fan support had been consistent throughout the season.

Who can blame the NCAA for making the No. 5 ranked Golden Panthers high-step it out of town? It would be doubly embarrassing for the team to host a game and have an empty crowd to greet them.

Though an argument can be made about the facilities, if the fan support were there, it wouldn’t be much of a problem to have FIU host the game.

Students and the university need to lend a hand to the athletic department. The teams aren’t made up of random basketball players picked up from who knows where.

These are students who are giving up their time and a big chunk of their lives to not only advance themselves, but do something they love for their school. It reeks of high school pep rallies, but students need to come out and support their university.