Fairleigh Dickinson, St. Bonaventure Honor Swanson
by Ray Floriani
TEANECK, N.J. – The afternoon called for an officiating assignment at Jersey City (NJ) St. Anthony’s. Following that, a Monday evening women’s game was on tap. Action was relatively light and it gave the opportunity to see the Fairleigh Dickinson women host an out-of-conference opponent. On the 30-minute drive (rush hour traffic cooperated) from Jersey City to Teaneck, little did I realize the significance this evening would have.
St. Bonaventure defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 49-42 in a women’s game at Rothman Center on Tuesday. This was anything but your typical December meeting between schools from different conferences. This was an evening to give tribute to a young lady whose presence and influence impacted many.
Joy Swanson was an assistant at FDU who tragically succumbed in October to cancer. Swanson played for and graduated from St. Bonaventure in 1995. She later went on to join the staff at Army before coming to the Northeast Conference school. Even after being diagnosed with the disease, Swanson valiantly stayed as active as possible with her coaching duties. This game is the beginning of a home-and-home, with FDU venturing to Olean, NY next season. On this night, though, it was a tribute to the memory of Swanson.
The game itself appeared to be all FDU. The Lady Knights led 20-16 at the half, as the Lady Bonnies were having trouble with Jordan Sykes, who led FDU on the night with 12 points. In addition, Mercedes Walker came off the bench to do some damage inside for the Lady Knights. A Sykes layup with just over 8 minutes to go increased the FDU lead to 40-26 before the home team stopped scoring and St. Bonaventure got on track. The Lady Bonnies went on a 17-0 tear to take a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
“I think our kids got started a bit slow tonight because of the emotion of the evening,” St. Bonaventure coach Jim Crowley said. “Once we started to make shots we trapped on defense and got going.”
Once they had the lead, St. Bonaventure protected it, largely on four free throws by Audrey Latendresse (a game high 18 points) in the last twenty seconds.
Following the game was a brief yet very meaningful ceremony to honor the memory of Swanson. Her husband Scott and young son Thor were at center court and presented a check for over $6,000 that was raised for her family on this very evening. A memorial fund for cancer research in her name is being discussed. During the ceremony, Scott, with his son, went down the two team benches and personally thanked each player and coach from the two schools. “The Swanson family will always be welcomed and have a home on the campuses of St. Bonaventure University and Fairleigh Dickinson University.” With these words and applause throughout the Rothman Center, the ceremony ended.
“She (Joy) was a great inspiration to me,” said Crowley, who was on the staff as an assistant with Swanson before she moved on to West Point. “She taught me to love Bonaventure. She had a passion for the school. She shared her stories, talked about her teammates and really embraced our kids.”
Crowley, in his seventh season as head coach (11th overall at Bonaventure), admits he remains at the Atlantic Ten school primarily because of that love for it instilled by Swanson.
The current Bonaventure squad never played for Swanson. Still, they were moved by the emotion and connect with her legacy through Crowley. Coach Sandy Gordon and her FDU players were naturally greatly affected by losing a fine coach, a true inspiration and close friend.
Among those in attendance were FDU men’s coach Tom Green and Army Hall of Famer and basketball standout Kevin Houston. While Swanson coached at West Point, Houston befriended the family and made the trip to FDU to honor her memory.
