PITTSBURGH -- Even after a season-ending loss, Loyola Chicago guard Braden Norris still expects the email from team chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt to be an uplifting one.
Sister Jean, the 102-year-old nun and March Madness darling who captured national attention during the Ramblers' 2018 Final Four run, sends emails to all of the Loyola players after each game and promises to do the same after the No. 10 Ramblers' first-round loss to No. 7 Ohio State 54-41 at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.
"I expect her email to be super positive," junior guard Braden Norris said Friday. "She always thanks us and shows us a lot of gratitude for being who we are and how we play."
Sister Jean traveled to Pittsburgh for the game and shared her usual pregame prayer with the Ramblers before watching on from her wheelchair on a concourse at PPG Paints Arena.
She wore a garnet zip-up sweatshirt with the school's name embroidered across it in gold lettering, along with her signature gold-and-garnet striped scarf. It's not the first time she's watched her team this postseason.
Earlier this month, she traveled to St. Louis to watch Loyola win the Missouri Valley Tournament, and she watched alongside the team as their at-large bid was announced on selection Sunday.
"She means a lot," Norris said before the game. "She's kind of our whole brand, especially when we get into March. We always kind of joke around when we advance it's kind of like Sister Jean advancing to the round of 32.
"She's great. I mean, she means a ton to our university and to our team, and it's awesome to have her here."