The Florida Southern College women’s basketball team will be nationally televised on Saturday when they take on Nova Southeastern in Jenkins Field House.
The Mocs have been included in what is known as the CBS Sports Network NCAA Division II Basketball Game-of-the-Week package for their noon contest with the Sharks. This will be the first home game being broadcast for FSC.
The NCAA looks for men’s and women’s Division II basketball and football teams to feature on television. The CBS Sports Network is the sponsor of these broadcasts, and according to school administrators, Game-of-the-Week is primarily associated with college athletics to showcase small college campus basketball.
FSC is one of 14 teams CBS chose to be part of the Division II Basketball Game-of-the-Week. Head coach Holly Borchers thinks the game is a great opportunity for her players and the school.
“I think it’s fun for the players because people from back home can watch the players,” Borchers said. “I think it’s great for our school because Florida Southern will be featured on national television. People can get a feeling of what it’s like at Florida Southern.”
Another important figure involved in the broadcast and athletics program is Director of Athletics and Dean of Wellness Pete Meyer. Meyer, who oversees the 19 NCAA-sponsored sports at FSC, thinks the success of the women’s basketball program helped to make this broadcast a reality.
“We were one that people were going to look at because of the success we’ve had over the years,” Meyer said. “It worked out with what the NCAA Division II was looking for.”
Meyer also believes the nationally televised game will help viewers to get a sense of what FSC is all about.
“It’s a live broadcast,” Meyer said. “This is in our home gym, on our campus, which puts our logo on everybody’s TV that day. It’s an opportunity to highlight the campus and the community. I want to get a good crowd for the game.”
Not only is the staff excited about the national broadcast, but the players are just as excited.
“The news that we are going to be broadcast means a lot to us. We are so excited,” Melanie Ducott, senior guard, said.
Borchers and Meyer seemed to have similar goals in mind: to win, and to work as a team.
“I want them to win,” Meyer said. “Those coaches and those athletes want to win as bad as I do. They understand what Florida Southern is all about, and the success that we’ve had.”
The CBS Sports Network broadcast of the game against Nova Southeastern will begin at noon on Feb. 9.
