I knew something was up today when I pulled into the parking lot at Oglethorpe and saw Bowdoin coach Stefanie Pemper stepping out of a vehicle with Maine plates.

Maine is a long way from here. Dave McHugh would counter that Maine is a long way from just about anywhere, but I wouldn’t drive to Maine from D.C., let alone Atlanta.

Turns out that the flight the Bowdoin women’s basketball team was scheduled to be on this week to Atlanta was canceled. Since the next flight they could’ve gotten to here wasn’t until Monday, they hopped in school vans and drove. Twenty hours. Rolled in about 7 p.m. and played Wilmington at 10 last night.

There’s a kicker to this story, too — Bowdoin will be making its regular flight out of Atlanta on Monday but of course, there’s that sticky issue of the school vans they drove down here. So while the players will be flying to Maine, the coaches will be driving 20 hours back home.

Bowdoin off to a 14-5 lead in the early going. Going to head down and take some photos.

I also have interviews from last night to post. Had a real interesting conversation with Piedmont coach Lee Glenn about the state of D-III basketball in the Deep South and I will spotlight that at a separate time.

Meanwhile, I know we have other things going on today, especially that game between No. 1 Mary Washington and No. 5 UW-Whitewater.

Updated
I had a chance to talk with Oglethorpe coach Ron Sattele about topics ranging from his team’s incredible junior class, surprise 2006 tournament run and his desire to avoid the interstate at all costs. I also spoke with Wilmington coach Jerry Scheve, our first real chance to catch up with Wilmington after the 2004 national title. I asked how it affected the program and you might be surprised by the answer.

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