March 3, 2003
Last week's trip was the first time that I had been to Arizona, so I was a
little bit excited. I heard that the weather is really hot during the summer
and much of the area is just like a desert. And, of course, the Grand Canyon
is there. That was all my knowledge about the place.
At first we arrived in Phoenix, and went straight to practice in a high school
gym, which was really huge, and very impressive. At the beginning of our
practice, a fire alarm went off, and we almost had severe hearing problems
because it was so loud. So we moved to a different gym, where we could avoid
the noise and conduct the practice. After practice, we went to dinner and
straight to the hotel. My roommate was Alisa Lewis , and we fell asleep very
fast because we were so tired from travelling.
The next morning I had to get up earlier than most of the team because I had
to take an exam with three teammates at the Arizona State Athletic Department.
You know, if you are on the road you can still take your tests, because there
are proctors who watch and make sure that you use only the allotted amount of
time and that you're not cheating. So I took the test, and then we had shoot
around for an hour.
After our pregame meal, we went back to the hotel for a short nap and were
ready to play Arizona State. They were on a three-game losing streak, all
played on the road, and now they were at home and wanted to prove that they
were not that bad as they may have seemed. Both teams started very slowly We
missed many of our shots and never really got into a rhythm. Unfortunately I
got in foul trouble so I was on the bench for most of the first half. The only
person who played particularly well was Kiki Williams, who had turned 21 just
one day earlier, and boy, I'm telling you, she was hot! She even made a
three-pointer from three feet behind the line. Everybody on the bench said,
"Oh, no!" But when she made it we jumped up and down yelling, "Oh, yes!!!"
Ultimately, we lost the battle, but we never gave up, even though our shots
weren't falling.
The next morning we had a pool workout, which was very relaxing to our tired
muscles. Then we had breakfast and got on the bus to go to Tucson, where we
would play against Arizona. On the road I saw giant cacti, and the houses
looked like those built in Mexican style. We practiced in the afternoon and
then got ready to go to visit some of Jacqueline Sanchez's family friends.
They were Native Americans and showed us their building complex and talked
about how their community works. It touched me deeply how much they care about
their people and don't leave them in need. They offer education, jobs, land
and medical help for all members of their tribe. They even invited us to have
dinner in one of their casinos. Wow…a real casino with all the games and slot
machines. The biggest prize of the day was $10,000. Lots of money for a little
student-athlete who lives on $150 after paying her rent. Unfortunately we
didn't have much time to spend there because we had to go back to the hotel
for study hall. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the hotel in Tucson was
the most beautiful that I've ever stayed in. It had little fountains in the
lobby and lots of green plants. It was wonderful.
After breakfast, we headed to the game. Arizona is a good team; they beat us
by 30 points earlier this year when we played them at home. I think this time
they were sure that they could beat us easily, but we didn't give them the
game without a fight. The first half was very close, we played really well.
I'm sure they were surprised because they probably didn't expect that much
effort and fight from us. In the second half, they shot much better than us,
so they won the game, and went on to celebrate their seniors afterward.
We had Sunday and Monday off to get ready for the big challenge that we have
worked for the entire season, the Pac-10 Tournament, which begins Friday. Of
course, the seedings are important, but if you win, you get an automatic bid
to the NCAA Tournament. Our first game will be against Arizona State and I
think we have a great chance to win that game, because we played so horribly
against them last week, but were still battling to the bitter end. And this
time it will be like playing on our court, because San Jose is only a one-hour
drive! Fans, we would be grateful if you would come and cheer for us!
Thank you and see you at the tournament!
