Back in Bowling Green, Butler wouldn't mind if history repeated itself 19 years later
Sunday, March 18, 2012 | Women's Basketball, Women's Golf, Scott Carter
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Gators coach Amanda Butler spent Saturday preparing her team for today's game against Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Butler took time to look around the new Stroh Center on the campus of Bowling Green State University. The sparkling arena opened six months ago and is where the Gators and Buckeyes will square off this afternoon on ESPN2.
Butler also looked in the rearview mirror for a few minutes. Nineteen years ago to the day Saturday – March 17, 1993 – Butler was also here in this small college town located 20 miles southwest of Toledo.
She could still hear the day ringing in her ears.
“The one thing I truly remember about the whole ballgame, especially going down the stretch, was that it was the loudest place I had ever been in,'' Butler said. “It was much smaller. It wasn't an arena, it was a gym. You couldn't hear the officials' whistles when they blew. You couldn't hear the horn. It was so loud.”
The place Butler is talking about is venerable Anderson Arena, home to Bowling Green's men's and women's basketball teams for nearly five decades before the Stroh Center opened in September.
The Gators played the first NCAA Tournament game in program history there against the host Falcons. Back then, the top four seeds in each region hosted the first two rounds.
The Gators knew their visit here was going to be difficult against a Bowling Green team that was 25-4 and a perfect 13-0 at home.
The game was a seesaw battle until the final two seconds when Florida's LaTonya McGhee hit a 15-footer to lift Florida to a 69-67 win and silence Anderson Arena for the first time all day.
The Gators raced onto the court to celebrate one of the most special moments of Butler's playing career. During practice between the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament, Butler, in her junior season, suffered a broken hand.
Still, there was no way she was going to miss out on Florida's first trip to March Madness. Instead of starting at point guard, she came off the bench and dished a team-high four assists in only 13 minutes.
McGhee's shot – and what she told the media afterward – also remains fresh for Butler, in her fifth season as the Gators' head coach.
“It was kind of random and a little bit outside her normal repertoire,'' Butler said. “After the game, when she was being interviewed, she said she practiced the shot every day. We were like, 'No you don't.' She panicked when they asked that question. But she hit it.”
The Gators advanced and had to play at Virginia in the second round. They lost 69-55 and their postseason ride was over. But history was safely in the books.
“It's kind of neat to be back here,'' Butler said. “I remember it was just an amazing feeling. It was a new feeling. At that time, leading up to the game, we were a Reebok school then.
“We got to our hotel and Reebok had sent us some stuff. We were ecstatic, because the state of women's basketball in regard to apparel and that kind of stuff was so different. We thought we were in the NBA Finals.”
