UConn women’s basketball fans continue Final Four tradition in Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS — Bonnie Emery has been to 23 Final Fours.
Instead of stamping a passport for each city, she’s documented each Final Four by adding a pin to a custom handmade vest that features an assortment of blue and white UConn logos.
The Bristol native is in Minneapolis this weekend with her sisters, Diane Bancroft and Jan Hayton, to watch UConn take part in its 14th straight trip to the national semifinals. The No. 2-seeded Huskies take on No. 1 Stanford at Target Center at 9:30 p.m. (ESPN) Friday.
For longtime UConn fans such as Emery, attending the Final Four in person is as normal as attending any regular season home game.
It’s a must.
Hours before Friday’s tip-off, UConn alumni, Connecticut locals, women’s basketball fans and even a future Husky — Class of 2023 commit KK Arnold is in attendance this weekend with her AAU team — crowded around the streets and buildings outside Target Center. Some had traveled from Connecticut while others came from even farther just to see this year’s Huskies compete in the biggest women’s basketball event of the year.
“It’s the best there is and it’s going to be a win and you can’t get any better than the UConn Huskies. It’s going to be a fantastic game it’s going to be a fantastic tournament,” Lorraine MacIntyre said. “It seems like the city is excited which is really neat. … Everybody’s excited. The whole vibe. It really doesn’t matter what team you’re playing for, they’re excited. It’s an experience.”
For every home game this season, MaCintyre drove four hours from her home in Vermont to Gampel Pavilion. She became a UConn fan in 1985 because her husband is from Newington and her in-laws told her, “UConn Huskies are everything.”
She convinced her friend Sue Langer, from Clinton, to take the week off work to join her in Minneapolis. Despite UConn’s season marked by injuries, MacIntyre said she always knew the Huskies would make it to the Final Four.
“Their camaraderie the way that they believe in each other from get-go. That’s UConn Huskies,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s 2022, 1995, 2025, it doesn’t matter. They believe in each other all the time. That is something that is in their heart, in their soul and so they pick each other up at any given moment. I had no doubt that they would be here. None not so ever.”
Inside the third level of the Lumber Exchange Event Center, UConn alumni mingled and were treated to a catered dinner. Emery, Bancroft and Hayton were among many decked out in UConn gear, some even wearing basketball-beaded necklaces. There was a photo booth set up in the back of the room for fans to pose with basketball and UConn props to document the weekend.
The last time Bancroft attended a Final Four at Target Center was in 1995 — when UConn’s won its first national championship.
She remembers being crammed inside the stands of the arena and belting out “We Are the Champions” by Queen as the confetti dropped from the ceiling while Geno Auriemma, Rebecca Lobo and Jennifer Rizzotti celebrated on the court below. The Huskies had beat Stanford in the Final Four before edging out Tennessee for the title.
“We just stayed there singing and singing,” she said. “And I knew that was a special year. … I was there and nobody left the building for like hours after. We just stayed and I knew that was the year. Really special team.”
Bancroft became a UConn fan because her husband is an alum. While the couple now live in Florida, she still makes an effort to watch every game. She felt something special watching that UConn team 27 years ago. She had a feeling.
Despite all the ups and downs of this year’s Husky team, Bancroft still has that feeling.
“Oh it’s definitely a special year,” she said hours before Friday’s tip-off. “The last game (Monday’s Elite Eight), one false move and they would have lost that game. There’s some years it’s just luck on your side. I don’t know what it is, but this is a special year.”