#1 Women’s Basketball Arrives in Harrison

Sunday, March 17th, 2019 – 8:00 pm – Story by Alex Staab – Photo via HC Karrie Redeker (Cougars pictured with team host Scott Tennyson from Arvest Bank)

Harrison, AR – It was over a six hour drive, but the #1 ICC Cougars (31-1) have finally arrived in Harrison, Arkansas, the home of the 2019 NJCAA Division-II Women’s Basketball National Tournament.

The day got going in the late morning hours, around 11:00 am, as the Cougars began to file onto their charter bus and met the first of many faces they’ll cross paths with throughout the week, the bus driver, Z.

Across the Mississippi River the Cougars went, passing by the iconic St. Louis Arch, and off in the distance was Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. One week earlier, and they would’ve nearly crossed paths with the contingent of fans from the Bradley University men’s basketball team, who won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in St. Louis recently.

The first stop came in a town called Sullivan, Missouri. It’s a population of 7,147, located about an hour southwest of St. Louis. The Flying J Travel Center was the stop of choice. As the players were awaiting the right time to leave for the bus once again, they found the stand of sunglasses. The Cougars recorded a brief video with their new looks before boarding the bus once more.

Down Interstate 44 they went, until they hit Springfield, Missouri, home of Missouri State University. From there, a turn down Route 65 took the Cougars right into Harrison, Arkansas. Before Harrison, the Cougars did pass by the tourist hot-spot that is Branson.

The anticipation among those on the bus built as they realized how much closer they were to arriving at the home of the National Tournament.

After roughly six and a half hours, the Cougars’ charter bus pulled into the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Harrison. Everyone unloaded what they had brought along for the trip, and it was time to meet someone else.

Scott Tennyson, a member of Arvest Bank, served as the team’s host / honorary coach for last year’s National Tournament. He liked the Cougars so much that he requested to do the same this season.

Tennyson was kind enough to the Cougars and yours truly to provide goody bags for everyone in attendance. The bags featured the following: Arvest bottled water, Arvest water bottle, Gatorade, Blow Pops, fruit snacks, Devil’s Food cakes, a mini candy bar, and much more.

After settling in at the hotel, the Cougars made the walk of only about a minute or two to Wendy’s for dinner.

The plan is now to settle in on Sunday night before getting to work Monday with the first practice slated for 2:00 pm at Pioneer Pavilion on the campus of North Arkansas College, the site of this year’s games.

This is just the start of Harbinger Student Media’s comprehensive coverage of the ICC Women’s Basketball team at Nationals in Harrison, Arkansas. You can follow along here on our website for stories, or you can follow Sports Editor Alex Staab on Twitter (@StaabAlex). Alex will also have the play-by-play broadcast (audio only) of ICC’s game via the Mixlr app or the link (Mixlr.com/AlexStaab). You can also follow ICC Head Coach Karrie Redeker and the team on Twitter (@KarrieRedeker and @ICC_CougarsWBB).