NU teams up for big push
It was just a normal day for the Northeastern women’s basketball team yesterday morning when it headed into a gym at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia for practice.
When the Huskies, in town for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, went to practice, there was barely a drop of snow on the ground. The plan was to work out, then head to Drexel to watch the opening games of the tournament.
But when they left the gym, there were several inches of snow on the ground. The team got into a Yankee Line coach, but it wasn’t long before they had to get back out and deal with a bus that didn’t want to trudge ahead through the snow-clogged streets of Philadelphia.
The bus rolled along fine for a bit, but as it started approaching lights and intersections it got into some trouble. About 10 minutes into the ride, the bus began stalling. The driver did all he could to keep it moving.
“He (the bus driver) kept backing up and trying to get some momentum,” said Northeastern senior Maureen Taggart. “Eventually, he just kind of gave up.”
The players had been joking that if the bus got stuck they’d have to get out to push it. But they didn’t think it would actually happen.
Then the bus was unable to push ahead on its own up a slight incline in the snow.
“We offered as a joke to push and then it turned into reality,” Taggart said. “So we put our coats on and went outside.”
About 15 people got out and started pushing the bus from behind. They didn’t think it would do much, but in about five minutes, the bus started moving again.
“It was definitely really heavy, but I was really surprised we were able to move that at all,” said Huskies senior Loren Lassiter.
“I didn’t think we were going to move it an inch,” Taggart added.
Off to the side, coach Kelly Cole was filming the scene and directing her players.
“She was still coaching,” Taggart said.
It wasn’t without a little trouble, though. The streets were slippery as the snow continued to come down on them.
“A couple of people went down while pushing,” Taggart said. “But they bounced right back up and got their hands back on the Yankee.”
There were no injuries to report. Soon enough, everyone was back on the bus and headed back to their hotel.
“We were all laughing about it,” Lassiter said.
Now, the fourth-seeded Huskies prepare to face Delaware in the quarterfinals of the tournament today. They’re confident.
“If we can push through tomorrow like we pushed that bus today, then we’ll be OK,” Taggart said.