Basketball team’s road trip gets even longer after snowstorm

WASHINGTON — The Niagara University women’s basketball team was on a fairly
long road trip already. But the weather in upstate New York has made it even
longer.

The team was headed back to the campus in Lewiston, New York, after a
Monday-night game against the University of Pittsburgh when they got caught in
the
snow, which has reached six feet in certain areas.

The team got off the bus early Wednesday morning after being stuck for more
than 24 hours.

Among the players stuck on the bus was sophomore guard Emily Granruth, who
grew up in Centreville, Virginia.

The team’s bus left Pittsburgh at about 10 p.m., Granruth told WTOP Tuesday
night. At about
2 a.m. Tuesday, she says, “we stopped, and we haven’t moved since.”

They were near West Seneca, New York — about a 35-minutes drive under normal
conditions — and they passed the time talking, watching movies and
doing schoolwork, but that started to wear thin.

“It’s a little bit stressful,” Granruth said.

Worse yet, she said, “We just ran out of food, so that kind of put a damper on
things.”

Water was no problem, at least.

“We just run outside and fill up our
water bottles with snow.”

They’ve got a sense of perspective, though.

“We’ve been hearing reports of
people that are really struggling out there,” Granruth says, “so we’re doing
our best to remain positive.”

Granruth says the police had been in contact with the coaches and the bus
driver, but hadn’t been able to give any official estimate of when they’ll be
able to move again: “The next day or two” is the best she can say prior to the
early Wednesday removal from the bus.

The team got off the bus at around 4 a.m. Wednesday.

At least they were warm while on the bus: The heat could stay on as long as
the bus idled, and the bus driver said they had about 200 hours of idling
time. However, the bathroom was getting a real workout, but there isn’t much
of an alternative,
Granruth
pointed out.

They teammates gave more than a few media interviews about their plight, and
otherwise, Granruth said, “We’re all trying to remain positive and just stick
together.”

The whole experience might be a bit more pleasant if they’d won Monday night.
They lost, 70-54.

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