Hello Dear Ones! In one week Hoosier Hysteria will happen. For those of you unfamiliar with Indiana University Basketball let me tell you. We fans join together in Assembly Hall and cheer on our basketball teams. So to my dear IU WBB (Indiana University Women's Basketball) please know my heart is with you. I will be cheering you on. I will always stand behind you. ;)

Now to go dust off the pom poms.

Love you! - Margaret of Triple B

*Props to you if you knew that Kosh Naranek from Babylon 5 said this.

Let it be known NOW! The only way to think about the next round in the NCAA Women's Division 1 Basketball tournament 2022 is: #UConnWho

That's my hashtag and I say we all stick to it!!! 

And OH WOW what a game it is!

First, IU is hosting NCAA games - Know Before You Go: NCAA Tournament First and Second Round At Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall

Second, we won our first round - Hoosiers Cruise in NCAA Opener Over Charlotte

Third, well that happens Monday, March 21 when we face Princeton. Come on Sweet Sixteen! 

Very proud of you Hoosier Women players, coaches, and staff alike. Thank you for your wonderful work and spirit. 

Hello All! So IU has put out a wonderful webpage salute to the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. This is where the basketball magic happens here at Indiana University. So click on the link and enjoy. (Yes,  Teri Moren and IU WBB are honored too.)

​50 Years at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall

So yesterday was Sunday. My last day of winter break before I dove head first into recreating my class website, updating my class materials, and creating new projects for crucial learning. So I decided I would stay home which meant, missing one of the IU WBB games. I felt bad but knew that I would be attending all of them in January and February.  By resting on Sunday would allow me to bring new cheering power to future games. 

So glad I stayed home. I rested. And it was good. 

Oh YES! my wrong my wonderful Hoosier Women WON!!!! And they won BIG!! Just read about it here: No. 8 Indiana women’s basketball defeats No. 6 Maryland 70-63 in overtime. Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Woooo stand up and cheer!!!!!  GO IU! See, they beat Maryland which is a team I have great animosity towards due to the behavior of the players and the head coach. So going would have upped my blood pressure to no end.

No I don't keep track of who IU WBB plays before a game. I find out when I get there. The spirit moved me to rest, relax, and then ACHIEVE A SECOND OF SPIRITUAL BLISS WHEN I READ IU BEAT MARYLAND! So yesterday was a very good day. 

Keep going, IU WBB. My self care and rest has rejuvenated me. See you in person soon. 

Well what can I say. Last year COVID kept fans away from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Yet the IU Women became Elite 8 in the NCAA. It was good!

This year the IU Women started off with a bang! Team is ranked 10th in the nation and Mackenzie Holmes joined the 1,000 points club at IU. 

I am so enjoying this year. It is good to be back with other fans and to see our players on the court. They are leaner, meaner, and they bring joy when watching them. 

Come on down to the Hall and cheer on the Hoosiers. Or watch them over media! If you look at the schedule, every game shows where you can watch or hear the game live. 

Go IU! Go Hoosiers! 

Today IU Athletics sent us fans this:  IUWBB - A Season in Photos (2020-2021). 
What a season it was! 
Let me write as an IUWBB fan who remembers when 500 fans in the seats was a lot. When winning did not always happen. When there were only old banners in the hall.  Mostly I remember when getting a Behind the Bench Bunch seat was easy. Not anymore! You have to get there the minute the doors open in order to get those seats. 
And it is good. :) 
Well done IU WBB players, coaches, and staff. You have risen from going to the NCAA was a pipe dream in this fan's heart, to Elite 8. 
Never doubt we love you and will always be with you. 
​Now remember to hold our seats. ;) 

As I write this blog post the IU Women's Basketball team is getting ready to play their Elite 8 round in order to move to Final Four in the 2021 NCAA competition. It is breathtaking. I have talked with hubby and friends and we all wanted, knew this moment would come, and it is here and we are in awe. In awe of  our players, our coaching staff,  all of it. 

In all honesty, I don't know if I will be able to watch tonight. I may need to be hooked to an oxygen tank. I'll definitely need a huge pot of calming chamomile tea. 

To see more of my thoughts about this monumental occasion, go to my Twitter account @mmlion then my Facebook page and then of course, for the full love and archiving, here. 

Don't forget to CHEER. 

Remember the hashtags:

#WeAreMorenIndiana
#GoIU

So this coming Sunday, November 17, I get to watch the third game in the IU WBB season! Starts at 2pm against Jackson State. Not only do I get to cheer on the Hoosier Women, I will also receive a Faculty/Staff Appreciation Award. I had to be nominated by one of the players to receive this. Ms. Hannah Novroske nominated me. I am so honored. 

So come on down to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for a wonderful game of basketball. And yeah, I'm getting an award. :)

The IU Women's Rugby Club is having a fundraiser tonight at Chipolte. From 5-8pm, on Monday April 16, at the  420 E Kirkwood Avenue Chipolte, order some delicious food and then make sure that the cashier knows to give 50% of the sales to the Rugby club!!! YAY!!
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I am so lucky. I have the best students in the world.* I have been asked to throw the first pitch of the game against Butler on Tuesday, April 10th! This will be at 5pm, start of the game. I am so honored because I adore my students and thank them for asking me. Plus I will have another opportunity to humiliate myself publicly by "throwing" the first pitch. This will all happen at the Andy Mohr Field - Softball located at 1873 N. Fee Lane, Bloomington, IN 47408, aka  on the north edge of the IU Bloomington athletics campus near the State Road 45/46 Bypass. 

Come on down and LAUGH at me and CHEER on our fabulous Women's Softball team. 

*Which is obvious because I teach at IU. 

This week the IU Board of Trustees congratulated the Women's Basketball team and the Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving teams for outstanding achievements, i.e., victories this season! Read the wonderful article here and well done IU!!!!
​
Go Hoosiers!

Check out this EXCELLENT commemorative WNIT 2018 IU Victory Site!!!  I am so pleased that this is up and out in the world. Our Hoosier Women deserve the accolade. 

Oh and as you can see there were times in the game I got nervous. 

Well done Hoosier Women WELL DONE!! So proud of you all. 

I'm so excited I cried. The IU Women's Basketball team WON the WNIT! Women's National Invitational Tournament. This is BIG! Plus we had a record crowd of over 13,000 people! I wrote about this on the home page of this site. Here are some fun links about the victory. Click and Enjoy!!

• My Instagram Account - My 7 Minutes Video of The IU Victory. 
• WNIT Official Website with IU Win!
• IU Hoosiers Website and Victory Page!!!
• WNIT Twitter
• Coverage on the Indy Star Website
• RTV6 Website with Coverage​

Hello All! I have made site updates to Behind the Bench Bunch because new year means new fun! New team members and new ways to win. Go IU Women's Basketball.
​#goiu

Our Hoosier Women can hold their heads high! They earned Elite 8 status in the WNIT for the 2016-2017 season! The BtBB was there to cheer them on and we are so proud of their accomplishment. You can see some of us - including myself - in the pictures below. A kind friend sent these pictures to me.

Go Hoosiers!  #GoIU @IndianaWBB

Dear Readers last night the IU Women's Basketball team came from behind by 15 points at half time to soundly winning their 10th home court game against Iowa. Wow what a game! They showed true grit and determination when they came back and made up a huge point deficit to win. This marks the 10 straight home game win making it the BEST in IU WBB history. Huzzah!!

Last night I was inspired to create a new hashtag in honor of Coach Moren - #WeAreMorenIndiana Use it.

Enjoy the link and the picture of the history making moment in Assembly Hall.

Hoosiers Storm Back Against Hawkeyes

I just an email with the below picture attached. There is a call out for all of us to go to the Wednesday game and help IU defeat Rutgers. In short, go to cheer! Not sure how? Check out the Cheers page here: http://www.behindthebenchbunch.com/cheers.html.

See you there!!

Hubby and I are looking forward to Wednesday, January 27, 2016. Our Hoosier Women will be playing Rutgers on the home court! I will be taking my visiting friend Alicia who loves basketball with us too! She loves basketball. We love our Hoosier women and rooting them on. Hope to see you at the IU Assembly Hall at 7pm this Wednesday.