DeLand, Fla. - The Stetson women's basketball home game against Georgia Southern this Tuesday at 11 a.m. has been designated Volusia County Schoolchildren Day as the Hatters shoot for one of the largest attendance figures in program history. 24 buses with more than 1,500 local children will cheer Stetson on Tuesday at the Edmunds Center.
Tuesday's game marks the second time in three years Stetson has held a special promotional day for area youth; on December 15, 2008 Stetson beat Campbell 60-50 at the Edmunds Center in front of the second-largest women's basketball crowd in school history (1,703). With 1,550 youngsters and their chaperones expected on Tuesday, the Hatters will easily approach if not surpass that figure. The school record of 3,760 was set January 9, 1989 against #1-ranked Tennessee.
Local elementary schools expected to attend include Blue Lake, Freedom, McInnis, Orange City, Starke and Woodward.
Stetson (3-4, 1-1 Atlantic Sun) will be opening a three-game homestand after defeating A-Sun rival North Florida 74-62 on the road last Saturday, December 4. Senior center Natasha Graboski (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) scored a career-high 22 points and junior guard Mairead McNally (Belfast, N. Ireland) made the game-winning three-pointer with 2:30 left in regulation. The Hatters closed out the game on a 14-0 run. On the season, sophomore guard Victoria McGowan (Inkster, Mich.) leads Stetson with 14.4 points and over 3.5 assists per game; she ranks 17th in the nation in steals with 24 takeaways in seven games. Freshman forward Sasha Sims (Fayetteville, Ga.) is averaging 12.4 points per game so far in her rookie season.
Georgia Southern is 1-8 on the season after narrowly falling 68-65 at Florida Atlantic on Sunday. Following Tuesday's game, Stetson will be off for six days until hosting the Hatter Classic Mon.-Tues., December 20-21 against Youngstown State and Maine at the Edmunds Center. The Hatters tip off at 1 p.m. each day with Winthrop-Maine and Winthrop-Youngstown State to follow at 3:30 p.m. respectively.
