Now, JMU gets to focus on its biggest game in nearly two decades.
Much has changed in the sport from that 2000 appearance. Back then, only 12 teams made the national tournament and the semifinal setting was much different. The games were held at Lions Stadium in Trenton, New Jersey, home of NCAA Division III’s College of New Jersey.
What hasn’t changed is that JMU is a three seed once again and had to beat Virginia on its journey to the semifinal.
“We’ve been able to anchor the 2000 team and celebrate them,” said Klaes-Bawcombe, “and we’re excited to do it again in 2018.”
When asked what it means to represent those that have played before them, Klaes-Bawcombe noted the excitement and nostalgia her current team creates for the alums on that team 18 years ago.
“I think it’s been just giving everyone a great sense of pride,” she said. “To see JMU winning in the limelight with programs from the ACC and the Big Ten, it makes [the alumnae] feel really good about the times they spent at JMU, that the program keeps getting better and that their time mattered.”
And 18 years later, the only non-ACC or Big Ten squad remaining carries the hopes of its conference and its alums to LaValle Stadium. The Dukes will be just 60 minutes away from playing for a national title.