Mary Washington
- Feb 13, 2023
- 4 min read
Mary Washington Eagles (15-6, 1-1) vs. UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs (8-12, 0-2)
Sunday, February 5, 2023 @ 12:00 PM
Fredericksburg, VA
Ron Rosner Arena
THE SCHOOL
The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mary Washington is named after – you guessed it – Mary Washington, the mother of George Washington. Mary lived in Fredericksburg for the last twenty years of her life and is buried there. The school was founded in 1909. Back when the University of Virginia only admitted men, Mary Washington was it’s associated women’s college. Both schools became coeducational in the 1970s. Today, the school enrolls a little over 4,000 students.
The Eagles compete in the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) in NCAA Division III. UMW has had a good year; they’ve spent much of the year in the Top 25 and are the only team to defeat defending champion Randolph-Macon this season. Even with a few losses lately, they have a pretty good chance of getting an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) is a public research university about thirty miles south of San Jose. Santa Cruz is a beach town, located on Monterey Bay. UCSC has one of the most unique nicknames in all of sports: the Banana Slugs. According to Google Maps, it would take 43 hours and 2,900 miles to drive from Santa Cruz to Fredericksburg. Despite this, both teams compete in the same league, the appropriately named Coast to Coast Conference.
The C2C used to be known as the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC). The CAC featured teams in and around the DC area, but over the years, most league members left for other conferences. By 2020, the CAC was left with only three teams: Mary Washington, Christopher Newport, and Salisbury. You can’t do much with three teams, so the CAC merged with the American Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA), which was less of a conference and more of a confederation of mostly independent schools. The modern C2C is a truly national conference, with members reaching from the California coast to New York City, and from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to the mountains of North Carolina. Teams aren’t actually required to play anyone else in the conference, but the Banana Slugs are on an east coast road trip.
THE TOWN
On the weekend, Fredericksburg is an hour south of DC. During the week, it’s more like two (or more). Fortunately, I was driving on Sunday, when the roads were pretty light.
Fredericksburg is just about the southernmost point of the DMV. It certainly feels a little more Southern. It’s more spread out, you can catch some of a Central Virginia accent, and I spotted a few hole-in-the-wall barbecue restaurants along the way (though I got tacos at a Mexican/Salvadorian restaurant – very tasty!). Overall, it seems like a really nice place.
Bordered by historic neighborhoods on the east and west and by a Civil War battlefield to the south, UMW’s campus is surrounded by history. It definitely feels like it. The well-manicured campus is large and stately. It’s been around for a little over one hundred years, but you could be convinced it’s older. This is a good thing, it has a regal atmosphere.
The William M. Anderson Center (which houses Resner Arena) is a very nice place. Built in 2009 with improvements in 2015, it’s probably the biggest and classiest D-III arena I’ve seen around here. When you enter, there’s a large lobby with tables and couches that extends down one whole side of the center. The arena itself doesn’t disappoint; it’s spacious with a concourse, and has a number of chairback seats. The center also has a shockingly nice ticket booth right by the front doors, but here’s the thing: UMW doesn’t charge admission for any sport. What do they use this for?
THE GAME
I parked on the street and arrived at the arena about twenty minutes before the game started. There were a surprising amount of UC Santa Cruz fans in Fredericksburg. There weren’t a lot, but I expected none, and three of them sat right by me. I expect most were UCSC graduates who live in the area or family members of players, but I do wonder if anyone came over from Santa Cruz.
In Division III, the amount of timeouts is decided by the conference. Almost every conference goes for one media timeout per half (instead of four per half in Division I) and six timeouts per team. For some unknown reason, the C2C has four media timeouts in both halves. This game isn’t on TV! There is no need for this! One of the positives of lower division basketball is the shorter length of time and better gameflow thanks to fewer needless timeouts. For no reason, these teams spent an unnecessary amount of time not playing basketball.
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This one had a tight start. UC Santa Cruz took an early 7-2 lead, but proceeded to endure a six-and-a-half minute drought. During this time, Mary Washington’s #3, Eric Prosise, hit a big three-point shot to tie it. Undeterred, the Banana Slugs’ #13, Zino Okah and #4, Sohan Kshirsagar each had big shots to lead 13-11 with 10:00 remaining.
The Eagles’ #15, Greg Rowson, then got hot. He made 4 threes in the last 10 minutes, including one with just :30 on the clock. Rowson set the tone for the last minutes of the half and the Eagles led the Slugs going into the break, 30-21.
UC Santa Cruz started the second half with another cold spell, and that’s not what they needed. It took them nearly six minutes to get more than 2 points on the board, but by that time, Mary Washington was starting to run away with it. With 9:15 left, Rowson made another three-pointer, #1, Da’Shawn Cook, made a layup, the Eagles played solid defense, and Cook made a transition basket. By this point, the Eagles led by 20, 51-31.
The Slugs never got close after that point. Greg Rowson left the game early with 23 points and 7 rebounds, as the Eagles came away with a victory.
Mary Washington 65, UC Santa Cruz 43
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Thanks for reading.
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