A National Championship is not something that every university gets to experience but with their victory over Virginia Union University on March 24, the Ashland University Women's Basketball team made AU home to the 2017 National Champions. The impact that the lady eagles' success had on the entire university amazed me. Not just since winning the championship but also leading up to it.

The Elite Eight game, the Final Four game, and then the Championship game was mentioned by both those who closely follow sports and those who don't on a daily basis. Social media blew up, professors took time to ask who attended which games, and the dinning hall was decorated by basketball balloons and window paint, wishing the team good luck. I am so grateful to have experienced it all. I felt the excitement on campus during the week leading up to the last three games of the lady eagles' perfect season.

I cheered with pride along with the rest of Eagle Nation as every three was made and every second ticked away, bringing the AU Woman's Basketball team closer and closer to victory. I gathered confetti off the court just so that I had proof that I was there-that I was apart of it. Overall, a have experienced that the influence a national championship has on a university encourages the campus community to become stronger. Students are brought together by a mutual excitement before, during, and after the game. Professors are able to feel more apart of the campus community than every before because they can connect with students. Student athletes within different sports are also joined together in support of the national championship team. Even faculty such as the dinning hall ladies join the campus wide pride.

So thank you to 2017 NCAA Division II Woman's Basketball National Champions! Your victory made us all feel like champions and I am extremely grateful for that experience!