To catch everyone up on the last few weeks by describing it in one word would be... well, I can't because it's impossible. So much has happened since the last time I blogged to all of you. One of the most significant updates I have for you is that we went on a road trip. This was my first road trip this year, and my first time EVER to Portland and Gonzaga. I definitely won't forget it either--one reason being Brit was my roommate. So, since we weren't in school when we went on the road we didn't have to worry about bringing homework or text books which was AMAZING. Our reading material on every other road trip I've been on throughout my collegiate career during the Intersession period consists of three magazines; US Weekly, People, and InTouch. Oh, and let's not forget about bringing our laptops to check e-mail ...or Facebook. This trip was one for the record books in the category of Facebook updates.

Ok, brace yourselves... on this trip, we were a team of bookworms! I think we all have a new-found obsession with Nicolas Sparks (the author of the Notebook, duh!) thanks to me. Anyway, I just finished one of his books as we landed in Portland and Brit was looking for something to read. Being the considerate roommate and teammate I am, I lent it to her thinking I would get it back when we got back to San Diego. I clearly didn't know what I was getting myself into--she read the book in two days. Yes, TWO days. Which meant whenever I tried to make small talk with her when we were hanging out in the room--she had NO IDEA what I was saying due to the fact her nose was buried in the book. Brit wasn't the only one who got lost in a Nicolas Sparks romance, Felicia and Sara both read complete novels cover to cover while we were waiting in the Spokane Airport (in just a matter of hours). I must say that this was quite uncharacteristic of us but Coach Fisher was impressed with how "studious" we were.

I hate to bring this up... but I just can't resist. Before every game, after we have our pre-game talk with all of the coaches, we have a few minutes before we have to run out, so we came up with this `dance' to get everybody pumped. It's difficult to explain and I don't want to let any team secrets out but basically each class; freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior all have a chance to dance or "improv" (as Emily would say) in the middle of the circle for a few seconds while the rest of us stand around keep the beat. Well we all have found a dance move that we regularly do and Morgan's is getting a little out of control to say the least. Describing it won't do it justice, but I'll do my best. She begins by standing in a very low defensive stance, and proceeds to flail, spin, or rotate (I don't think there is a verb for this) her arms extremely fast until it looks like her forearms are dislocated. Well in the midst of her dance, she hit Woody in the nose...or some might say that Woody ran into Morgan's fist. Talk about killing the mood! Thank goodness nobody was seriously injured, and we won the game. We all know if we would've lost, our pregame ritual would've been blamed.

Last, but not least, we have a very two very important games coming up. We are playing LMU Thursday night at 7:00 p.m, I expect all of you to Pack the House. And, on Saturday, the excitement continues with a game against Pepperdine at 2:00 p.m. I won't expect anything less than to see all of you decked out in Torero blue and your faces painted--if I wasn't an Undergraduate Assistant I guarantee I would be right there with you!

One last thing, to those of you wanting a comment box at the end of the blog, I'm still working on it. In the mean time, I have had a few requests to give some "shout-outs." So, here is a personal shout-out to Mr. Mason (Nya's dad) who we all saw at our game at Portland. And my Uncle Todd who lives nowhere near any of the West Coast Conference schools... He's from the beautiful Midwest... Ellinwood, Kansas to be exact. But I can promise you that he will be in attendance at Senior Night, decked out in Torero Blue with his face painted, and maybe-if we're lucky his chest will be painted too!

Jan. 5, 2010

This upcoming weekend is one of the most exciting weekends of the whole year. I'll give you a few hints before I give it away...it's not a holiday, and it's not my birthday...Ok, I'll just tell you, it's the opening weekend of West Coast Conference play! Hallelujah, conference games are finally here. I thought I was excited when season began... but this feeling doesn't even come close. Once our conference season starts up, it is a whole different game. Every team knows every other team's offense, defense, and best players like the back of their hand. The most important thing that you all need to know about this weekend is that we play on Friday night, January 8th at 7:00 p.m. against Santa Clara at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. If I called the shots around here I would invite all of you to camp out in front of the JCP (Jenny Craig Pavilion) until Sunday, January 10th at 2:00 p.m. when we play San Francisco. But... since I don't call the shots around here, I will just simply invite all of you back to pack the house Sunday afternoon!

The last time we stepped foot on our home court, we were receiving our trophy as back-to-back champs of the Maggie Dixon Surf N' Slam Classic. We were able to get two HUGE wins against the University of Nevada, and in the championship game against Boston College. BC had some of the largest, most athletic post players we had ever faced, and despite resembling ants, the team was able to stick together, leave our hearts on the floor, and protect our house!!!

As opposed to the last time I updated all of you, I told you that our schedule was pretty simple--basketball and studying. Well, things are completely different right now. Classes officially start again January 25th ...or something like that (I personally am NOT counting down the days until school starts, so I don't want to know the exact date). Until then, all of our focus is on basketball. The little time that we have away from the gym we utilize to the fullest with team bonding. For instance, the other night we all decided to go to a movie- The Blind Side (which I highly recommend). Surprisingly everyone enjoyed it. Sara VanderHorst is known for not being able to make it through an entire movie without falling asleep, well...Congratulations Sara! You made it through the entire two hours without any shut eye! And then there are those few individuals who think everything is funny--even the saddest parts of the movie. Not to name names... Nya Mason and Morgan Henderson. There is absolutely nothing wrong with laughing throughout a movie but personally, I have a hard time making it through a movie without crying. So yes, I laughed AND cried throughout The Blind Side.

It's amazing the questions we get asked when we all go out together. Thirteen girls, all of us are most likely decked out in San Diego BASKETBALL gear, and more than half of us exceed six-feet. You would think that one wouldn't question what sport we play... especially since our shirts clearly state BASKETABALL. But sometimes we get mistaken for volleyball (which is understandable), but dance team? I just can't figure that one out. Allow me to give you a visual; the music starts and Brittany Conger begins "jerking" while Erica Carlson glides across the floor demonstrating the ever popular dance, "the heel-toe." If, and only if, we were a dance team...clearly it would not be pretty, so it's safe to say--we're sticking to basketball.

Dec. 22, 2009

Well, well, well.... I'm not sure where to begin. Hmmm, I guess an apology would be a good place to start. It's been a while since I have updated all of you!! I guess this brilliant decision of mine to major in English is really catching up to me. Lately, I have found myself writing more about Edgar Allan Poe and Earnest Hemingway instead of the University of San Diego Women's basketball team. And, if I had it my way....it would be the other way around.

On a more exciting note, how about our win against Cal State Long Beach?! Not only was it great win for us, but the crowd was awesome too! Some teams around the country may not notice this, but, there were moments during our time-outs when I could not hear what Coach Fisher was telling the team because the crowd was so loud!!! So, if you were able to attend, consider this a "Thank You Note" from yours truly.

Personally, I think this is one of the best times of year for multiple reasons. First of all it is the holiday season, which means we will get to go home for a few days (and when I say a few I mean 3-5 days) and spend the holiday with our families. Secondly, let's not forget the fact that during this time of year I get to listen to my favorite genre of music--Christmas Music! I am not ashamed to say that N'SYNC's holiday hit, "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" is on repeat in my car, and yes, I blast the volume and sing at the top of my lungs. The third reason this is the best time of year is we are in the heart of our season, and games are being played one right after the other. Lastly, this is also when the beloved final exams take place--a.k.a. the end of the semester!! Although a lot of us are not big fans of finals, we are getting through them and looking forward to a little break from school. (T-minus 5 days of school left...not that I'm counting or anything!)

So, as of right now, we are all practicing, studying for finals, eating, sleeping, practicing, studying for finals, eating sleeping... you get the idea. Oh, but I must not forget that somewhere in the middle of our schedule, we--the University of San Diego Women's Basketball team--will be singing Christmas Carols at a retirement home! Surprising, I know...but we are actually a hit and can "harmonize" quite well. Last year, our audience was shouting out requests! I don't want to say more and reveal our secrets, so on that note--wish us lots of luck when we carol this year.

I don't have much of an update on Kiva and Amber, but I'm sure everyone will be pleased to hear they are coming home for the holidays! I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but I'm almost positive they'll be attending one of our games during the Maggie Dixon Classic beginning on December 28th when we take on Nevada! It sure would be great if we could have another rockin' Jenny Craig Pavilion when we open up the tournament (December 28th at 6:00pm). The big crowd and loud fans is an incredible winning environment, especially on our home court. Can't wait to see you all there, and in the wise words of the ever-popular boy band, N'SYNC, "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!"

Nov. 17, 2009

It's safe to say when the University of San Diego Women's Basketball team has a little downtime in the locker room we enjoy working our dance moves- I guess you could call it a skill that all of us are continuously trying to improve upon. It's also safe to say that we all need a lot of work on our dance moves, so it's a good thing we're practicing!! There are a few of us that don't need as much work as others, "D" (Danesia Williamson) being one of them, along with Domo (Dominique Connors), Woody (Morgan Woodrow), "J" Julia Benett, Mo (Morgan Henderson), and myself...depending on who you ask. (...and yes I'm totally kidding about placing Mo and myself in the same category as D, Domo, Woody and J, but we would like to think of ourselves as being in the same rhythmic category as these talented individuals). Sometimes we get a little carried away when the music is blaring and everyone is getting pumped up for the game, practice, or whatever it might be, therefore this "hobby" of ours has the potential to injure someone...the person dancing or innocent bystanders--that has yet to be decided.

Brittany Conger is such a good sport and has the ability to laugh at herself which is great, I know she won't mind if I share a little story about her... So the other day, we were all in the locker room and one of our favorite songs came on entitled "You're a Jerk"--by the New Boyz. Well, there is a specific dance that goes with this song, and it is known as `jerkin.' And, no Mom, this is not the same dance move that you once danced to at your school dances. If you have no idea what this dance looks like, I highly encourage you to go to youtube.com and type in the `how to do the jerk' and you will be able to envision this better. Anyway, as the song is playing, D begins to jerk and makes it look so easy that you can't help but want to join in with her. Of course, Britt is the first one to join in. Opposite from us highly skilled dancers, Britt begins by attempting to bounce up and down to the rhythm and asks us to count it out for her and to tell her when she should start `jerkin.' "Go ahead Britt..5, 6, 7, 8" and, off she went. For a second, I think all of us were unsure of what dance move she was attempting. It looked as though she was a mix between a River Dancer, and someone who was skipping over hot coals barefoot. But, before she could finish or even get to the point where she resembled `jerkin' ...the song was changed. All of us were laughing so hard (including Britt) that it was about time one of the more rhythmically skilled teammates took over.

Thank goodness our dance skill doesn't carry over to the basketball court--we would be in trouble. Most of you know that we opened season with a big win over UCSD. Moving right along, we have a big week ahead of us. We play San Diego State Tuesday, November 17th ..TONIGHT! and then we are off to Chicago to play in the Maggie Dixon Classic in Chicago, Illinois. But don't worry we will be back on our home court on November 24th against Cal State Northridge at 7:00 p.m.

I know there are plenty of Amber Sprague and Kiva Herman fans out there who are curious to know how they are doing over-seas. Well, you are in luck because I have kept in touch with the both of them via Facebook. They are both doing great, to say the least. Amber said that it took her a few weeks to get adjusted, but she is LOVING it now. She enjoys the style of play over there, every game is a challenge due to the fact she is playing against a handful of WNBA players. I asked her what her role is on her team and it is comforting to know that she hasn't changed one bit because her response was a simple two words, "to score".

I could tell Kiva was adjusting fairly easily when she signed her letter "Ciao." She said that one of the things she has learned thus far is that if they win the whole team is acknowledged. If they lose it is the pro players fault. She also seems to really like the food over there. All of us who knew Kiva, she loved pizza! Well, she said that she is getting sick of pizza (she thought she'd never say that), and is actually venturing out of her comfort zone and trying something new! Congrats Kiv! I will be sure to keep everyone updated with Kiva and Ambers experiences, but for now everyone can rest assured that they are adjusting quite well and excelling on their teams, which is no surprise to anyone.

See you all at the next home game--November 24th, and if you have any dance moves or tips for any of us (specifically Britt) don't be afraid to tell her about them, or better yet, SHOW them to her.