March Madness: William & Mary player and team rally from online abuse and losing skid

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — William & Mary’s Anahi-Lee Cauley is playing in her school’s first NCAA Tournament in the biggest moment of her career just a month after one of the worst.

It was her foul on a 3-point shooter at the buzzer that set up the game-winning free throws in a loss to rival Drexel, which would start a losing skid.

A later check of her social media only made things worse. That’s when she found multiple messages telling her she was terrible, and some even suggesting she die.

The Tribe’s senior forward was among the latest college athlete subjected to online abuse from fans who are taunting them or angry about a defeat or gambling losses.

“To have somebody say those hurtful words, it was a shock. I don’t know you,” Cauley said Friday as the No. 16-seed Tribe (16-18) prepared to play No. 1 seed Texas (31-3) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

“Those are tough words to hear when you are by yourself looking at your phone,” Cauley said. “I started deleting them.”

Cauley’s case is far from unique. Professional and high-level college athletes are routinely exposed to rough treatment online.

Not PARSE.LY: NCAA Women’s Bracket

Maryland coach Kevin Willard gripes at reporters’ questions following Terps’ March Madness win

 

Thierry scores 16 as balanced Ohio State beats Montana State 71-51 in women’s NCAA Tournament

 

Auburn’s Johni Broome, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner centers of attention in March Madness matchup

 

That it would happen to a player at a school scrapping through the Colonial Athletic Association shows just how far it can reach, and the effects that can ripple through a team when it happens.

The Drexel loss was first of four in a row, and the Tribe’s season started spinning out of control.

Cauley would only describe the messages in general terms but said she kept them to herself for a few days. She eventually brought it up during a team meeting during the losing skid.

“They all had my back,” Cauley said.

William & Mary coach Erin Dickerson Davis called the messages “really nasty.”

“And she was a wreck,” Dickerson Davis said. “Filled with guilt. She’s 22 and didn’t mean to make that mistake. Mistakes happen in basketball. To get messages like that put her in a nasty space. She is our emotional leader on the team that completely rocked her and us.”

The motivation behind the messages was never clear, Cauley said. She never figured out if they were just mean taunts, or from angry gamblers who lost money on a bet.

The NCAA is trying to address the issue of online abuse from gamblers during the men’s and women’s tournaments that draw big betting action. The NCAA this week launched a “ Don’t Be A Loser ” campaign for tournament broadcasts and online that aims to curb abuse directed at players by fans who lost bets.

According to the American Gaming Association, an estimated $3.1 billon will be legally bet on this year’s basketball tournaments, doubling the amount bet on the Super Bowl.

Cauley and the Tribe have recovered well from the abuse and the losing streak. They won the CAA Tournament to earn their automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, then beat High Point on Thursday night to set up their matchup with Texas.

Cauley scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds in a rematch with Drexel in the CAA semifinals, a 22-point victory. She went into that game with the previous loss, and the online abuse, weighing in the back of her mind.

“We had this mindset that the tournament was our ultimate revenge tour,” Cauley said.

The pressure of the men’s and women’s tournaments will only build over the next few weeks. Each win, each loss, each shot made or missed with stir emotions. That means other athletes will be targeted with online abuse, Cauley said.

“Don’t deal with it on your own. Lean on your tribe, the people who love you and know what you’ve been through, who know the hours you put on the court and know your morals,” she said.

___

AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.