Local Sports

Cinderella indeed: Davidson wins big

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- A crowd of at least 2,000 people screamed and cheered in the Alvarez College Union on Friday night as the Davidson Wildcats advanced to the ‘Elite 8’ in the NCAA tournament.

Lizzie Hyland, a sophomore from Atlanta, said she had entered a student lottery for a trip to Detroit after the college’s board of trustees offered to pay for admission to the game, travel and a hotel room.

“I feel like everyone, in a perfect world, would have liked to have been there,” she said. “But I feel like it’s just as much fun to celebrate with everyone on campus about how far we got and how far we continue to go.”

The tournament wins have propelled the liberal arts college of about 1,700 students into the national spotlight.

Business at the campus bookstore has soared. Wildcats merchandise and ‘Sweet Sixteen’ t-shirts led to $35,000 in sales on Wednesday, according to a college spokesman. A normal day would bring in about $1,700 at the store.

“It makes people focus on the school as a whole,” said Molly Baird, a sophomore from Boston. “People realize there are a lot of other cool things about (the college) too.”