Saturday evening was a night for West Virginia fans to remember.

13,504 folks were in attendance for West Virginia’s opening round victory over Miami (Ohio), in the NCAA tournament, setting a new record for the largest crowd to watch a women’s basketball game inside Hope Coliseum.

There were long lines forming outside of the gates hours before tip-off, and a good portion of the seats were filled with old gold and blue for the first game between Kentucky and James Madison. From pregame warm-ups to the announcement of the starting lineups to the opening tip to the final horn, Mountaineer Nation brought it.

A case could be made that it was the loudest the Coliseum had been all year, including for any of the men’s basketball games. The women hadn’t hosted an NCAA tournament game in over 30 years, and you could tell how excited everyone was to be there and be a part of history.

The one thing I took away from that game was just how amazing West Virginia fans truly are and how badly they want to win. Having covered WVU sports for the last 10 years and been born and raised in Wheeling, neither of those two facts is news to me. But it’s in moments like this where you see the support really shine through.

There have been plenty of heartbreaks over the years from the 1988 national championship game in football to being excluded from the 1993 championship game after an undefeated season to that Backyard Brawl loss in 2007 to the loss to Duke in the Final Four in 2010 and even all the way back to Jerry West’s squad falling one bucket shy of winning a national championship in 1959.

Those are some of the ones that stick out like sore thumbs, but they’re also some other gut-wrenching games where WVU had a clear path to either a conference championship or something of similar significance and were unable to get the job done.

Mountaineer fans just want to experience winning a national championship in one of the big sports. Although they don’t have anything directly to do with the team’s success in that quest, West Virginians would feel a sense of accomplishment through the players, the staff, and the administration.

What makes West Virginia so special is that the people are proud to be from there. It’s rare that the state is in the national spotlight for something good, and when it happens, it’s usually because of WVU’s success in athletics.

That Flying WV logo doesn’t just represent the university, it represents the state and its people. Winning a national title would allow West Virginians in the Mountain State and those who have moved elsewhere to stick their chest out and feel on top of the world. Through all of the heartache they’ve been through with sports and the hard times they’ve been through in life, just trying to get by, they deserve to have that feeling at least once.

There’s no guarantee that they will beat Kentucky in the second round on Monday night, and I’m also not oblivious to the fact that number one seed Texas is extremely good and very much a national championship contender, but that doesn’t change the point of the story. The fans deserve that magical run, even if it’s just a trip to the Sweet 16 this season, which would be the first time in three decades that they’ve reached that point of March Madness. It would be a step closer to the ultimate goal, just like the baseball program has made significant strides by reaching the super regional in each of the last two seasons.

It may not happen for the women’s basketball team this season, but crazier things have happened. Whenever that national title comes, regardless of the sport, it’s going to be one big celebration that never comes to an end, and West Virginians deserve it.

It’s finally here. After three long decades of waiting for another opportunity to host an NCAA Tournament, the West Virginia Mountaineers will do battle with the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks inside Hope Coliseum on Saturday night.

Here is how we see this one playing out.

Schuyler Callihan: West Virginia 70, Miami (OH) 41

Amber Tretter (6’1″) is the player to watch for the RedHawks. She was named the MAC Player of the Year after averaging 14.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while shooting 50% from the field and north of 36% from three-point territory. If West Virginia can neutralize her, which I believe they can, they’ll be able to win this game going away.

Miami has several capable scorers, but this will undoubtedly be the best defensive team they’ve faced all season, and they’re going to need Tretter to bring her A game for them to even have a chance.

If you’re someone who likes an up-and-down offensive affair, this is probably not the game for you. While Miami is a strong offensive team, they pride themselves on their defense, just like West Virginia. This may feel like a bit of a rock fight at first, but once West Virginia settles in and knocks down some shots, they should be able to lean on their defense and cruise to a first-round victory, likely setting up a second-round date with Kentucky.

Joey Bray: West Virginia 70, Miami (OH) 50

I think the Mountaineers take care of business in front of what could be a record crowd at Hope Coliseum. Miami of Ohio is making just its second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history after winning the MAC, but finds itself in a tough draw against WVU.

WVU outmatches the RedHawks defensively, which is impressive given the fact that the RedHawks are more of a defensive team. The RedHawks have four starters who average ten or more points per game, showing they have players who are capable of scoring when they need to. However, they have not played a defense quite like West Virginia yet this season. WVU has just as many players who average over ten or more and have proven they can score in bunches against tough Big 12 competition.

The Mountaineers should be able to cruise to what will likely be a round of 32 matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats for a chance to reach the program’s first Sweet 16 under Coach Kellogg.