81
The Niagara women’s basketball team has been stuck on the highway in its bus for nearly 24 hours because of a winter storm that dumped 4 feet of snow around Buffalo and killed four people.
"It started to get bad fast at about 2 a.m. and we came to a dead stop and haven’t moved since," Niagara coach Kendra Faustin told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday night. "It was a rough weekend for us on the court and it just won’t end."
The team was coming back late Monday night from a loss at Pittsburgh when they were stranded. Faustin said they have been in touch with the state police a few times, but haven’t had any help yet.
"They told us a few times that they’d be by with food and water but we haven’t seen them yet," Faustin said. "We just heard on the news that they said all non-commercial stranded motorists have been rescued. Well apparently they missed us."
The coach, who took over at Niagara in 2007, said that everyone is OK and the team is in good spirits, but they are running low on food and water. There are 25 players and coaches aboard the bus as well as Faustin’s 1-year-old son.
She said the bus has enough gas and power to last a few more days.
"We have snacks, some granola bars and pretzels," Faustin said. "We found six bottles of water and have been rationing it. We thought we’d be here for a couple hours and a couple of hours turned into 12 hours. It’s now 24 hours."
Faustin described snow drifts of over six feet that covered other cars. Some of the other motorists have come aboard the team’s bus seeking shelter and bonded with the team. In a region accustomed to highway-choking snowstorms, this one is being called one of the worst in memory. Snow blown by strong winds forced the closing of a 132-mile stretch of the Thruway, the main highway across New York state.
"You couldn’t see more than 10 feet in front of us, but it’s starting to get better," she said. "You can see some lights in the distance of some houses off the side of the road."
The team has taken to social media to tell others of their plight posting selfies.
"This whole Twitter and media thing has kept their spirits high," she said. "It’s something fun for them to do."
The team also has been watching movies and caught the Duke-Michigan State men’s basketball game on TV Tuesday night.
"They really have been great, there’s been no complaining at all. They’ve been joking around, I want a steak, I want a soft taco, a Slurpee," she said. "There’s definitely nothing in the coaching handbook to prepare you for this. I’m sure when it’s all done we’ll look back at it and remember how great a bonding experience it was. For now I think everyone just wants to get home and sleep in their own beds."
Niagara wasn’t the only team affected by the storm. Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta was snowed in and unable to leave his home. Sabres assistant GM Mark Jakubowski and head athletic trainer Tim Macre were also snowed in and unable to attend Tuesday night’s 4-1 victory over San Jose.
The storm also forced the postponement of the Canisius College women’s basketball team’s home game against Binghamton on Wednesday night.
