COLUMN: Little fanfare, big dreams for Tigers

When the DePauw women's basketball team embarked on its journey to the Final Four this afternoon, there was little fanfare.

A few staff members poke their heads out. New football coach Bill Lynch waved, wished them luck, then ducked back inside where it was warm.

The Tigers are beginning the journey alone, or probably more truthfully, as a team.

Nineteen players boarded the bus. Unless things go really right -- or really wrong -- only 11 or 12 will play in this weekend's games in Holland, Mich. But the tight-nit group has been working as one perfect unit all season.

"Sticky," as senior Kate Walker calls it. They are together. They've got each other's backs. Helping one another, pushing one another.

Sometimes, I noticed, when no one else has.

They've stuck together all off-season. There was a low point for a while, after the then 27-1, No. 4 in the country, lost to Carthage in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The Tigers used it for fuel and motivation.

DPU's preseason ranking this year, No. 4, was motivation for them too. They began the season steamrolling their competition.

DePauw was slowed, relatively, in its fourth game of the year. They only beat No. 6 Washington University by one.

They haven't been challenged since.

The two teams that have come closest -- Wash. U and Wittenberg -- got clobbered by a combined 40 points in rematches.

But as DPU kept rolling, the crowd failed to join in the fun.

Attendance at games dwindled. The late-arriving crowd began the season as "some" and slipped to "few" before the conference tournament rolled around.

Many of the few dozen that came to each contest were parents, basketball alumni and DePauw staff.

The players and coaches never complained or worried. There are enough on the team to cheer themselves on.

"Yeah, DePauw!"

"Yeah, Alison!"

"Yeah, Erin!"

After DePauw beat Wash. U last week, in the third round of the NCAA tournament, the Bears' coach joked that the difference the second time around was the home crowd.

Neal Fieldhouse was packed for the tournament, and the crowd was loud.

The Tigers appreciated it, too. They thanked the fans for their support -- after the game from center court and during the press conference that followed -- but the crowd wasn't the difference, the Tigers were.

DPU improved as a team. The Tigers improved as individuals. Everything clicked.

In the Final Four, even with the most talent, the Tigers will need every advantage they can get. The competition is bigger, stronger and faster than it's been all year.

At most home games this year, the number of players on DPU's bench outnumbered the visiting crowd. The Tigers could cheer themselves to the louder support.

Williams, Amherst and Wisconsin-White-water will travel well. If DPU can bring the crowd, the Tigers will bring the wins.