Purple and gold streamers snapped against the trees they were tied to as gusts of wind and gossip blew citizens and students alike into Ashland University’s Kates Gymnasium the night of March 12.

For some, it was the first time they had stepped foot in the gym, while others automatically climbed the bleachers to find the seats that had become their own. Crowd members dressed in green fought to find a visitor’s side that didn’t exist. Tonight, almost every seat in the house belonged to an Eagles fan, clad in purple and preparing to scream their way to a victory, riding on the wings of AU’s women’s basketball team as they prepared to push for a regional championship and a 31st win.

Thirty minutes before the game clock started, the crowd was on its feet, making more noise than Kates has heard in a long time, possibly ever. The heat from the crowd rose into the rafters and lingered, causing the spectators to sweat almost as much as the Lady Eagles would. A football player in the student section refused to take his jacket off, pounding his fist into his chest, shouting, “This is my purple. This is my purple and I’m not taking it off.”

Students came in with energy drinks. Students came in with alcohol. Students came in with posters. Students came in covered in paint. Student’s came in skipping night class. Students came in escorted by their night class teachers.

“I haven’t seen Kates this full since the Jacks Mannequin Concert my freshman year,” junior Katy Wheeler shouted.

Students, parents, faculty, staff and community members alike were on their feet as the referee tossed the ball up into the air. Synchronized cheers and clapping ensued, homemade signs waiving only a little higher than the hands of the 2,644 people in attendance. Students halfway joked that the bleachers were probably going to cave in, having never felt the weight of so many stomping feet at once.

The Lady Eagles and Rangers went back and forth the first half, scoring and responding, scoring and responding. As a Lady Ranger made the lay up to put them ahead of the Eagles by two, an Ashland native standing on the floor knocked his hat off of his head in protest at the “obvious travel.” The student section was on its feet for the first 20 minutes. No one even sat down to get on Facebook.

One of the Lady Rangers threw up a shot and missed completely.

“Air ball, air ball,” was then chanted every time she touched the ball. Even after sinking her next shot, the student section wouldn’t let up. They wanted in her head. They wanted her to falter. They wanted to win. She sank another shot. Junior Frank Whitaker shouted, “People don’t forget!” The only thing that combated the intensity was the sheer fun.

As a timeout was called halfway through the first half, senior Brandon Gibson shouted to his best friend, “I hate Ashland University but this is awesome.” A girl checked her face paint in her friend’s mirror. Senior Alex Jones started another cheer. Head Coach Sue Ramsey hunkered down in front of her girls, hitting her clipboard. Senior Cassie Baird swears she could hear Ramsey across the gym and over the roar of the crowd.

Wheeler and senior Ta’Lissa Wright sat as halftime began. Wright just started following women’s basketball this year. The reason?

“Kari Daugherty,” Wright simply stated. She isn’t friends with her, she just saw Daugherty’s stats and the realization of what was going on in Kates Gym was too exciting to resist. “All the information on her, she’s sweet.”

Wheeler happily recounted the time when she fouled Daugherty during a 7th grade basketball game. She said she knows it sounds creepy that she remembers that. But it didn’t sound creepy that night, because that night, everyone wanted to be connected to the team.

Whitaker has played or worked for AU athletics every year he’s been here. He easily understands the importance of support and what the noise of a crowd can do.

“It’s pretty unreal, it’s pretty awesome to see the support from the whole town, I mean, people I have never seen before in my life are here,” Whitaker said. AU football is often the only sport that pulls in larger crowds. Whitaker is happy that another department has gotten to shine this year.

“We’ve struggled the past couple years and there’s still a lot of people that come out… I mean, it’s nice to see people come support another team, you know?” Whitaker said. “It’s definitely loud and I’m losing my voice right now. It’s pretty awesome… Every person I talked to today was like, ‘Are you going to the game? Are you going to the game?’ Every single person, it was incorporated into every single conversation, I’m not kidding.”

The second half started with another roar; no one had lost momentum. After a bad call on the ref’s part, the students chanted, “Bullshit, bullshit.” President Finks frowned over at the student section. A minute later, the chant started again as another call the crowd disagreed with was made. Finks frowned at the refs.

Students got the crowd into the game, getting one side of the gym to chant, “A,” and the other side to chant, “U.” Signs said, “Fear the Bird,” “Hoops, she did it again,” and “Teach me how to Dorner.” Jones waved his arms, demanding the students shout louder. Staff members moved into position to keep the students from storming the court as the clock counted down. The whole gym was on its feet with two minutes left in the game. As the clock finally hit zero, the student section physically moved forward, then rocked back, held back by the hands and shouts of the human fence separating the students from the court. The team gathered in the middle of the court and Ramsey bent at the knees before triumphantly hoisting the regional championship trophy over her head. The roar from the crowd could only be topped by the respect felt for such an astounding coach and woman.

Twitter lit up.

“Final score: Ashland 78, Wisconsin-Parkside 65. Ashland wins the NCAA Midwest Regional, headed to the Elite Eight in San Antonio!” – @ChrisBils

“Congratulations #AUWBB! So happy for you girls!! Keep rollingggg! 🙂 #soexciting” – @cfoxxx1

“Hey @RobinMeade #AshlandUniversity Womens Basketball is San Antonio Bound! #EliteEight #AUWBB” – @ktwheels

“Lost my voice and I’m not even mad. #AUWBB did work tonight!#goeagles” – @DMitch4031

As the spectators slowly poured out of Kates Gym, the purple and yellow ribbons still flapped in the breeze. Students wandered over to the Eagles’ Nest, where the stories about the fantastic basketball game were only interrupted by the food orders put into the grill. And even after the food was cooked and eaten, students sat, recapping their favorite moments and talking about their favorite players. For once, no one wanted to go home.