SIOUX FALLS – The University of Sioux Falls women’s basketball team’s 2019-20 story was shared to a nation of sports fans on Tuesday night during ESPN’s “Sportscenter” program hosted by Scott Van Pelt in a segment which had over 133,000 views on Twitter as of Wednesday morning.
After the NCAA canceled winter and spring sports in March due to the Coronavirus (CoVID-19), Van Pelt and ESPN began deliberating on ways to salute and recognize high school and college teams around the country whose seasons were canceled early due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, they came up with a segment on SportsCenter titled “#SeniorNight.” Through his @notthefakeSVP Twitter account and on SportsCenter, Van Pelt subsequently asked for submissions from those impacted around the country.
In Tuesday’s three-minute segment aired late in the evening (the show usually runs sometime between 9:30-11:30 p.m.), the Cougars comprised of 23 seconds of air time and were the first of five teams or athletes featured. Here is every word ESPN veteran Van Pelt uttered:
“The University of Sioux Falls — They had seven seniors: Kaely, Jaicey, Mariah, Jessie, Augusta, Andie, and Abbie. Had a 26-6 record, a first ever ranking as a Division II school, a first-ever conference title, a 3-seed in the (NCAA) Tournament. They are very proud of these seniors in Sioux Falls, and you ladies should know I was reading all about you and ‘Coach Trap’ into the wee hours of the morning. You all sounded like an awesome bunch.”
To view the segment, click here… And follow @KWSNSports on twitter, our Twitter page, while you’re at it!
Last Friday, USF tagged Van Pelt on his Twitter account – @notthefakeSVP. On Tuesday morning, Van Pelt tweeted to the @USF_Athletics and @USFCougars_WBB twitter accounts: “Tuesday night, you’re up. Reading about your seniors now. They sound great.”
Last week, USF posted a feature story about the seven USF seniors including Augusta Thramer, Jessie Geer, Andie Mataloni, Kaely Hummel, Mariah Szymanski, Jacey Huinker and Abby Slater. To view the feature story, click on this link.
The other teams featured on the SportsCenter segment, all coming after the USF lead-off: City College of San Francisco men’s basketball (30-0), a New Jersey high school softball team, Arkansas prep basketball player Makenna Vanzant — who overcame a rare kidney disorder as a sophomore — and a Massachusetts college lacrosse player.
