Aloha postscript: Women's Basketball co-captains and Bailey check in with Wahine Classic thoughts
Women's Basketball co-captains (sophomore guard Brittainey Raven and junior forward Earnesia Williams) and the team's lone senior, guard Erneisha Bailey -- checked in with TexasSports.com on the trip back from Hawaii. Read their thoughts below on the team's performance at the Wahine Classic, where the Longhorns went 2-1, and see what the team did in the little down time they had while playing three tough games in three days. Also check out the photo gallery of the team, staff and coaches during the off-hours in Oahu. Hey everyone, Hope you followed us during our trip to Hawaii. We did OK, but the first-game loss to Virginia by three (86-83) really hurt. That sent us into the consolation bracket, so the best we could finish was fifth -- and we did. But, the loss taught us a lot about playing every possession, going at it on defense every minute, and never taking anyone or any play lightly. It was a long trip for us. It was about eight hours from Dallas to Honolulu last Wednesday. On the way back, we took a red-eye from Honolulu to Los Angeles, beginning at 10:30 at night (Honolulu time) and landing in L.A. Around 5 a.m. (LA time), so we had to sleep on the plane. It was completely full and cramped -- not really fun. Then, we flew from L.A. to Austin and got back around noon time here. The trip was really full for us -- if we weren't playing, we watched film and scouted our opponents, had study hall, and then, in our free time, we walked on the beach and lots of people shopped -- a lot ! Hawaii was so beautiful and I'm glad we got to enjoy some beautiful scenery and great weather. Now, it's time to rest up, go to study hall, hit the books, and prepare for UT-Arlington on Thursday and Sam Houston State Sunday. We hope to see everyone out at the Erwin Center cheering us on! It will be great to be back home playing after being away from the Erwin Center for two long weeks! Hook 'em, ----- Hey, y'all! We loved our trip to Hawaii (except for the loss), and are thankful to be invited to play in such a great tournament! I want to thank my teammates for making it possible for me to be named to the All-Tournament Team. We did a really good job of sharing the ball and playing team basketball. And, when I was open, I was in the right place at the right time for some great passes. It was a total team effort. We learned a big lesson in the Virginia game, and after that, we played with a lot of passion on both ends of the floor. It was a wakeup for us, since we were bad on defense in the first half. Playing three games in three days also taught us the importance of getting your rest and of eating right. Everyone on every team was tired by the third game, but we were prepared well and we toughed it out. There was so much shopping all around us! I bought a lot of souvenirs for my mom and sister Tiffany, and of course, I got myself some cute dressy shirts and a Hawaiian style dress that I'll put away until the spring! Now, it's time to get back to our routine, study, go to class and get focused on our next two opponents -- UT-Arlington and Sam Houston State. We really hope that everyone will turn out and watch us Thursday and Sunday. It's been two weeks since we've played in front of our fans -- and we miss seeing you and hearing you! I want to give a shout out to those fans and families who did make the trips to Tennessee and Hawaii to watch us -- thank you! We appreciate the support! See you at the Erwin Center! Hook 'em, ----- Aloha, everyone! We really enjoyed our trip to Hawaii -- with the exception of game one against Virginia, which was a three-point loss. We know that we are really fortunate to be able to make these kind of special trips. Since I've been at Texas, we went to Vancouver in the fall of my freshman year for exhibition games, then we went to the Bahamas my sophomore year, playing at the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport which we won. Last year, we went to San Diego after Christmas for two games, and we're going back again to defend our championship. And now, we're just back from Hawaii. It's great to go and see new places, new scenery, get a sense of history from other places than the U.S., and play some great basketball. I know we all wanted to come back with three wins, but the coaches were proud of the way we bounced back after a tough Virginia loss and won our games over Kentucky and UAB. We learned a lot about ourselves. Me personally, I came off the bench the last two games after starting our first four games, and I understand why. Coach G (Goestenkors) pulled me aside after the Virginia game and had a discussion with me about my role and what she wanted to see from me -- better rebounding and defense. And, I hopefully gave the team just that. I know I had my best rebounding game of the year against Kentucky with 11 rebounds, and I'm here to do whatever it takes to help us win -- come off the bench, start, rebound, play "D", shoot -- whatever Coach G wants me to contribute, I will. This trip and the three games were a reminder that it takes all of us doing all the little things to win. Off the court, we had a blast shopping. Our hotel was the beautiful (Westin) Moana Surfrider steps away from the ocean on Waikiki Beach -and right across the street from one of the best shopping areas we've ever seen! We loved it. We did have one free afternoon on Thursday to go and hang out on the beach for a few hours, and some of us swam, floated, did boogie boarding, and some even went paddling an outrigger! But, when we could, we'd go shopping. Some of us had our families there (thanks for coming, Mom and Dad!) and that was great to spend time with them, too. I can honestly say that Kristen Nash and Rachel Rentschler had the most luggage on the way home. I bet Kristen's bag was overweight, since it was stuffed with everything she bought! And, we laughed at Rachel because she had three carry-ons with her new purchases -- I think that's over the carry-on limit, right, Rachel? I think Kristen was really worried that she would be charged extra for overweight luggage, but somehow, she wasn't! So, now we've got to readjust to Central time and get back to classes and get focused on our two home games this week. Hope you'll enjoy the game photos and the fun photos we've put on our website from Hawaii! See you for our game Thursday against UT-Arlington! Hook 'em,
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