Lyndsey and Mardy Medders have both established long-lasting relationships with the community of Ames, and although they hail from California, if you ask them, they’ll tell you they have two homes – one in Los Angeles and one in Ames.

“We love Ames. It’s our home away from home,” Mardy said. “I hope to get back three to four times next year. You never go to Ames and not have a family experience.”

“I fell in love with Ames on day one,” Lyndsey said. “My coaches and teammates became a second family; this community embraced me, and my family made it out enough so that I would never get homesick.”

When Lyndsey said her family made it out “enough,” she was downplaying a bit. Even with the obstacle of living on the other side of the country, Lyndsey’s mom, Mardy, made it to as many home games as she could.

“I would say Mardy probably made it to roughly 80 percent of Lyndsey’s home games,” women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly said. “It’s been a great story. She’s sacrificed to be able to watch her daughter from half-way across the country. It’s very much appreciated by everyone in the university.”

Mardy feels she possesses the more accurate statistic about the amount of home games she actually came to throughout her daughter’s career.

“I think probably 60 to 70 percent, some people tease me and say 80 to 90 percent though,” Mardy said.

Mardy utilized self-proclaimed “tricks” to make her long journeys from the West Coast to the heartland. She would hop on a plane, from an “obscure airline” in Los Angeles and make the three to four hour flight to Minneapolis. From there she would grab a cheap rent-a-car and make the additional four-hour trip down to Ames.

Once she arrived, her motherly instincts would instantly kick into gear.

“Lot’s of times, I’d take Lyndsey and her friends out to eat. I’d then run errands for her, being a mom, it’s what I had to do,” Mardy said. “Sometimes I’d pay a bill at the credit union, or buy groceries, stuff like that. Ames was just a home away from home.”

Then it was game time and Mardy thrived in those situations. Her enthusiasm can be traced back to her days at the University of Michigan, where she was a performing arts major.

“I do get animated at the games, and being a performing arts major, I can’t help it,” Mardy said.

Her time spent as the first woman entertainment coordinator in the NFL while working for the L.A. Rams primed her for Hilton as well.

Lyndsey remembers her mom’s antics during her high school games.

“My mom would always pass out pom-poms to other families, get cheers started and she would usually be the first in the gym and the last to leave after my high school games,” Lyndsey said.

This enthusiasm was ballooned with the atmosphere the Hilton Coliseum provided.

“She was very outgoing at the games,” Fennelly said. “She was someone who was real engaged with the fanbase and the other parents. Mardy was very dedicated not only to Lyndsey, but all the players. Very few people didn’t know who she was.”

The “mom-squad” practiced a bit of superstition during the games.

“It doesn’t matter that we’re moms and dads, and not students, we still have the enthusiasm to get into the games. We had to sit in our daughter’s number seat, and I wore the same bracelet for four years, Nikki’s mom, Megan’s mom and I were the trio – the “mom squad,” Mardy said. “I guess I’m just an old-school cheerleader.”

When reflecting on her and her daughter’s time spent in Ames, at Hilton and with the women’s basketball program, positive remarks spilled from Mardy’s mouth.

“The whole situation with us and Ames has just been very endearing,” Mardy said.

“There’s nothing about the entire situation that hasn’t been dealt with honesty and that’s rare nowadays. It truly is like an extended family in Ames and we appreciate that”

Mardy said if there is one moment and quote that can capture their time in Ames, it’s coach Fennelly and Lyndsey crying and hugging on senior night. Coach Fennelly told Lyndsey, “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

“I lost it,” Mardy said. “It’s an amazing picture.”

Mardy is now looking forward to her daughter’s WNBA career in Indiana and considers herself, along with her daughter, an alumna.