By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
After many months of hard work, preparation and anticipation, the week is finally here.
The city of St. Joseph, in conjunction with the St. Joseph Sports Commission and Missouri Western State University, is all set to host the 2023 NCAA Division II women's basketball Elite Eight tournament. This is the fifth time the city has hosted this event, and the first time since 2011.
Brett Esely, director of both the St. Joseph Sports Commission and DII women's basketball Elite Eight tournament, says the biggest project undertaken to get ready for this event was the renovation of the venue itself - Civic Arena.
"That transformation began almost a year ago," Esely said on KFEQ's The Hotline. "Between the city of St. Joseph and some kind work from the Hillyard companies here in town. For those who don't know, Hillyard is a leader in gym floor finish. They essentially took on the refurbishing of the Civic Arena court."
A half-cent sales tax increase approved by St. Joseph voters in August 2021 is expected to raise $50-$60 million for the city's parks and recreation facilities before it sunsets in 2031. About $2.1 million of that is going toward the arena.
First opening in 1980, Civic Arena now looks like a new building inside.
Hillyard, Inc. refurbished and repainted the floor. New, LED lights were installed. New hoops were put in a few months ago. About 80 percent of the 3,800 seats have been replaced. New electronic scorers' tables don the courtside.
Esely says, though, there's one change at Civic Arena that shines brighter than the rest.
"I would say the crown jewel of the aesthetic renovation is the new center-hung scoreboard," he said. "It's LED. When you walk into major venues, nine times out of ten, that's the kind of scoreboard you see. So, that gives it a new look in itself."
As for the teams competing this week, this field of eight is quite elite indeed. Catawba, Assumption, University of Texas-Tyler, defending national champion Glenville State, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Minnesota-Duluth, undefeated Ashland and Tampa are the eight teams vying for a national title this year.
Coming in from eight different states over this past weekend, Esely says this field is as strong as it gets.
"This is a national tournament and that field couldn't get any more national than this," Esely remarked. "Five of those teams have won more than 30 games, one of them is undefeated. We have the defending national champion in the field."
Seven of the teams competing were the No. 1 seed in their respective regional tournaments. The games this week will be split into three sessions spread out over two days.
Each session consists of two games. The first session begins Monday at noon, with the first game pinning Catawba against Cal State Dominguez Hills. The second game Monday is at 2:30, featuring Assumption against Minnesota-Duluth.
The second session on Monday starts at 6 p.m., with Texas-Tyler playing Ashland. That'll be followed Glenville State versus Tampa at 8:30.
Wednesday features the third and final session, with the two semifinal games being played at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Fans can purchase a ticket bundle for all three sessions, or all six games, for $40 total.
Single-game tickets on Ticketmaster are $20 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets can also be purchased at StJoMoSports.com, or by calling 816-271-4717.
The national championship game be played not in St. Joseph, but in Dallas, Texas on April 1 at the American Airlines Center - the same city, venue and weekend as the DI and DIII women's basketball national title games. This is being done to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of Title IX.
The DII women's basketball Elite Eight will be back in St. Joseph in 2024, and Civic Arena will host the national title game next year as well.
Even with the national title being played in Dallas this year, Esely says the games on Monday and Wednesday this week provide a rare opportunity to see high level basketball right in St. Joseph's downtown.
"This is a national championship event," Esely pointed out. "Six games for $40. I'm not great at math, but that's like $6.99 apiece for the games. Which, for anywhere for a championship level event, that's a pretty good price."
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.