Jan. 3, 2005
The third match-up in two years and the goal is still the same. Our last meeting was a significant step in making Baylor history and this one proved to be as important. We were in the midst of a winning streak and Florida was going to be the non-conference game with the most pressure in more ways than one. They were very athletic and we knew they would give us full court pressure the entire game. Not to mention the pressure of defending our 2-0 record against them. People say the third time is the charm and I think Florida was motivated by that very saying. We worked on handling their pressure and what we needed to do to win this game. This was also our second TV game in a row, which isn't a big deal but it added to the pressure a bit.
So, we tipped off and got the game started. It was a messy game but that was expected. All in all we handled their pressure and took care of business the way we knew how. Florida never quit and made it a very tough game inside and out. Abi stepped up big time and gave some quality minutes for us as well as Latoya. We started off the game pretty strong and stayed consistent throughout! Everyone got to play so that was a good thing for us.
Immediately after the game we got the green light to head home for a nice stretch of time. We were excited and that may have been a little motivation for us to put that game away and head home on a good note. I think a few girls were packed and ready to head out right after the game. But there was still a group of us that stayed behind, hung out, and waited until the morning to leave. We watched movies and ate cake and cookies for the majority of the night. This leads me to my "thank you" to Mrs. Covington for the sweets! It's greatly appreciated!
The ride home wasn't ideal for me considering I got a speeding ticket like 20 miles outside of Waco. In my defense, I was not alone; there were at least two other cars going the same speed as me! But besides that, I enjoyed the time off and I think I used it pretty efficiently in terms of seeing friends and family and of course sleeping and eating. I think I am safe in saying that all the Lady Bears utilized their holiday time well, and I know for a fact that it was much appreciated.
We reunited on Monday evening and hit the ground running, literally. I am pretty sure by the end of practice I had passed my second and I started looking for my fifth or sixth wind to kick in. It was crucial but that's just part of the game, conditioning and staying in shape is an underrated part of basketball that we clearly don't overlook. Anyone who was present for that practice knows what I mean by that!
Montana State, now that's a personal match-up for a few of us that were on the team for the Montana State tournament my freshman year. We went all the way out there and lost to them, making that game our only non-conference loss that year I believe. It was something far behind us but not forgotten. We came out pretty strong again shooting them out of a zone. I think I read somewhere that they were expecting us to come out missing more shots then we did, considering the Christmas break, but we proved them wrong. It was another game where everyone got to play and we also got to play different combinations on the floor as well. Jordan and Latoya had good nights for us coming off the bench which is always good for us. We have a lot of depth in the guard position and its fun when everyone gets the opportunity to shine!
On a more amusing note, I think our team is one of the most entertaining groups of girls you could put together and consequently that means that silly, unpredictable and ridiculous things happen to us all the time. This story doesn't top the time Jordan set fire to our banquet table at the State Farm Tournament but it is definitely going down in history.
The main character of this story is our very own veteran Chanelle Fox. At one point in the first half Chanelle was running, pretty fast might I add, in transition defense when she was `undoubtedly' tripped near half court. Now I, and the rest of the team only remember her falling which is the main focus of the story because not only did she fall but she slid a few good feet before laying on the ground helplessly. The fall alone was funny enough to get the bench rolling, but then the way she laid there as though she was sniped brought me to tears. I had definitely seen the funniest thing I had seen in a while, or so I thought.
When we went to the locker room, Chanelle, who sits next to me, pointed to her shorts to a hole about the size of quarter or so. It seems that Chanelle managed to burn three holes in her game shorts between her fall and her knee brace hitting the floor. At that point I pointed and laughed so much that I cried more and almost caught a cramp. Anyway I thought I would share that with you in case you find Chanelle's mishaps as funny as I do.
So now we are done with non-conference and we have a week to prepare for the second part of our season, conference. We start out on the road against A&M but like I said we have a week until that game. This time of year is very relaxing around campus mainly because it becomes a ghost town! There's always somewhere to park, no lunch time traffic at Wendy's, and most importantly no classes. We still practiced as though class was still in which is good because my body is used to that schedule. Practices were productive and relaxed at the same time. We got work done and had time to concentrate on Baylor for a change.
A couple of us girls brought in the New Year together after a little dinner and fireworks which was a lot of fun but it wasn't much considering we had practice at 9 a.m. the next day. We got up and down the floor and scrimmaged each other for practice today. It was fun and a pretty good match up. I think it would have been a good game to come watch actually! It's always good when you can put together two equally talented teams collectively off of one team. After practice we all went our separate ways, but I think at some point we all took a well-deserved nap.
Later Sophia, Victoria, Jordan and I went to the movies. Sophia, Vic and I went to see the Life Aquatic and Jordan saw National Treasure. We even ran into Kramer and Mackenzie in the arcade. Then later we found Abi who came over to watch TV and hang out at my house. It has been a long week and I think we are all ready to hit the court again. We still have three days before the A&M game but after that there's no time to relax. So I would suggest all fans take this time to recharge and get ready for the second half of a great season.
I hope you catch one of those buses to College Station but if not, then I definitely hope you're getting ready for the conference home-opening UT game. This time there is no settling for watching it on TV, bring a friend, family member, co-worker, anyone and come support us! Hope to see you there and if not I'll keep you updated...until next time!
Chameka
