Portsmouth Ohio is justly proud of Robin Hagen-Smith and her Shawnee State Lady Bears Basketball Team. Robin (who played for South Webster and Rio Grande) coached a National champion for Shawnee before and was this year's National runners-up. I wanted the University of Kentucky to interview her a few years ago. She has that special gift of recruiting and coaching that should make us all proud of the Center of Our Universe- Portsmouth, Ohio. Thanks to Chris Dunham of the Portsmouth Daily Times for this article.
Sam
SSU, community turn out to honor Bears
by Chris Dunham, PDT Sports Writer
22 days ago
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Dozens of elementary school students made up hundreds of fans that turned out to greet the Shawnee State women’s basketball team as the Bears returned from Sioux City, Iowa as NAIA DIvision II runners-up.
slideshow Throngs of people lined the sidewalks at Shawnee State University on Thursday as the SSU women's basketball team returned from Sioux City, Iowa following their appearance in the NAIA Division II National Championship Game.
A crowd estimated at several hundred turned out for the “Welcome Home Celebration,” greeting the Bears, who completed the bus ride home from the tournament after spending Wednesday night in Indianapolis.
"These are the people they've seen for four years in the stands," SSU head coach Robin Hagen-Smith said of the crowd. "To be able to celebrate it and see them and know how proud they were to be a Bear and part of Shawnee State and Portsmouth, it's just special... I told the girls before we went out to be proud to represent your hometown, your family, Shawnee State University, the state of Ohio and Portsmouth and we were darn proud to do that."
SSU represented everyone well, winning four tournament games to earn as spot in the Final Four for the third time in school history and first time since 1999.
The Bears defeated Indiana Wesleyan 56-55 on a Catrice Mitchell bucket with 5.8 seconds to go before falling to Northwestern (Iowa) in the national championship game.
"The Indiana Wesleyan game, that was our national championship right there," Hagen-Smith said. "But we had to get calmed down because we had one more to go. It was such an emotional high."
That contest, which featured a 10-point second-half comeback for the Bears, was a popular topic for the day's celebration.
"The final four game was amazing," sophomore guard Abby Ballman said. "It was really exciting. We had a great time off the court, too. I'll never forget the times we had. I know that we didn't win it but like coach says, that's not what matters. We had a great team and it was a blast."
The team arrived at Glockner's on U.S. 23 at approximately noon Thursday and was greeted by more than a dozen vehicles. Those people driving joined with local law enforcement vehicles to form a cavalcade that traveled down U.S. 23, as people stepped out of their businesses to wave and shout encouragement to the team.
Once on campus, the Bears were greeted by the crowd of cheering fans as they made their way into the University Center.
"It was really nice to see how many people support us and were here," Ballman said. "I didn't really expect that big of a turnout coming off the bus with all those kids cheering and all the people coming out of their stores and waving was really nice."
Shawnee State University President Rita Rice Morris took the microphone and commended Hagen-Smith and the team for all they had accomplished. She called the members of the team "Tremendous athletes, tremendous people and fierce competitors" and thanked them for their unselfish passion and determination.
Athletic director Jeff Hamilton then took the microphone and introduced the team's head coach. Hagen-Smith spoke for approximately 15 minutes and thanked the players, coaches, fans and others who had a hand in the team's successes this season.
"The greatest part of all is being able to celebrate with the people who have supported you and that was really the highlight," she said.
While Hagen-Smith admitted she did not feel she stated strongly enough how much the members of the team meant to her as individuals, she was able to remind them as a whole what she thought by telling an anecdote from earlier in the week.
"I said 'Look at me,'" Hagen-Smith said, recalling what she told the team on the bench in first moments after the championship game defeat. "People in the crowd probably thought I was yelling at them. I said 'Look up here at me. I am so proud of this team!'"
Judging by the turnout at Thursday's celebration, and the roar of the crowd after Hagen-Smith's brief story, hundreds of others are proud, as well.
CHRIS DUNHAM can be reached at cdunham@heartlandpublications.com.
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