It’s Friday the 13th. Time for superstitions to run rampant with

students preparing for final exams, and ISU athletes are no exception.

The women’s basketball team exercises several long-standing traditions

before each game.

The women stand in the same order during the national anthem before

each game and run out onto the court for warm-up in the same order each

time.

Every player shaves her legs on game day, said Holly Bordewyk, senior

in management. Also, on road games, the women sit in the same seats on

the bus, she said.

The pre-game meal is either chicken, pasta or pancakes depending on the

time of day, said Erin Rosacker, senior associate director of media

relations.

Rosacker said pre-game rituals are part of all athletics and give the

team a sense of unity.

Lindsey Wilson, senior in sociology, has a basketball that she’s

carried with her everywhere all four years, Rosacker said. “It’s

deflated,” she said. “It doesn’t even work.”

Megan McCracken, freshman in general undergraduate studies, also takes

her basketball everywhere, with the exception of classes.

Clothing is also an important part of pre-game preparation, she said.

“I wear the same blue hairband, underwear, sports bra and socks,”

McCracken said.

The order in which she does things is also ritualized. McCracken said

she puts her left shoe on first.

Even coaches have their own pre-game rituals.

Right before tip off when the starters are already on the floor, head

coach Bill Fennelly hits the shoulders of all of the people sitting on

the bench including players and support staff, Rosacker said.

If the players try something new, from team cheers to socks, and then

have a bad game, that cheer or pair of socks is out for good, she said.

If something has worked in the past, it sticks.

Brittany Wilkins, sophomore in exercise and sport science, said she

still wears the sports bra she wore during her Nebraska state

championship win while playing for Arlington High School.

Players said when it comes to game day, divine intervention doesn’t

hurt either. “I pray before every game,” said Lisa Kriener,

sophomore

in art and design.

Several players pray individually and they also pray as a team, she

said.

The crowd can also bring Hilton Magic to the players, they said.

Wilkins and Kriener said they make sure to scan the crowd in section 35

for their favorite fans.

Wilson said habits help add structure to pre-game activities. “I have

so many little things – not superstitions, just routines,” she said.

The women’s basketball team has fewer superstitions this season than

in

years past, Wilson said. “We’re not very superstitious any more,”

she

said.

Wilson said Angie Welle and Tracy Gahan from last year’s team were

superstitious.

Last season, Welle tried a new hairstyle on a day she had a bad game.

Rosacker said she never saw that hairstyle again.

Even if the team doesn’t have many pre-game rituals now, they will

gain

them with time, Rosacker said.

“They are just starting to play together,” she said. “They will

acquire

things as the season goes along. [Superstitions on athletic teams are]

still ever-present and

rampant.”