The first two rounds of the Bridgeport region of the women’s NCAA tournament will be taking the UK Hoops to Carnesecca Arena in Queens, New York.  I decided to take a closer look at Carnesecca in order to explain to everyone how great the environment will be for our team.  Let’s dive in.

This arena is home of the St. John University “Red Storm” women’s basketball team. The arena is built for 5,602 bodies to pile in and cheer on their home team, which is almost 2,000 seats smaller than Memorial is built for.  The arena was renamed in 2004, and was formally called Alumni Hall.  It was renamed to honor long time hall of fame coach Lou Carnesecca.

Playing our first two tournament games in this arena will be like home games for Jennifer O’Neil.  This will be absolutely crucial for the Hoops, because it seems like O’Neil is the Ryan Harrow of this team; When she plays well, the whole team is playing well.  O’Neil is a Queens native, so more than likely she will have a huge family and friend turn out.  It is great for those of us that will likely be stuck in the Bluegrass watching the game from our couches to know that there will be a sea of blue to cheer on our Hoops.

The team pulled a 2 seed for the second year in a row.  The ladies were very happy to get the chance to play against the UConn Huskies again in the tournament, and look to gain revenge for the loss the Huskies handed them in the tournament last year.  That game against UConn last year inspired this year’s team slogan of #40Minutes, because the ladies felt as if they had not played a full 40 minutes against them last year.

There has been no report thus far on concession stand prices. Or quality of popcorn.

The Hoops will be tipping off in Carnesecca against Navy on the 24th at 12:05.  Party at my house?  @KSR_allHAYL