Catching up with the Panthers

Sorry that we have been so behind on the blog, we have been having some technical difficulties but hopefully this will catch you up to speed!

Sunday Day 1:                                                                                                                                                     

On Sunday morning we left Davenport for our journey to Iowa! Along the way we stopped at Purdue to watch the women’s game against Illinois. Although Illinois lost, we still had a good time! Coach Williams got us tickets that were two rows behind the bench, which was a pretty cool experience. After the game we had dinner and then traveled to Champagne, Illinois were we stayed the night.

Monday Day 2:

We woke up Monday morning in Champagne and headed to Illinois’ gym for practice. As cool as it was practicing in a Big Ten gym, it was also nice to see their facilities, coaches’ offices, and talk with their coaching staff. After our practice at Illinois, we loaded up on the bus to complete the rest of our 8 hour journey to Iowa. We had a little hold up on the way as we thought the bus was a little shorter than it actually was and we didn’t clear the over passing bridge. The long bus ride consisted of movies, eating, playing cards, and plenty of sleeping. We finally made it to Sioux City, Iowa Monday night and got our rooms at the Country Inn.

Tuesday Day 3:

Day 3 is when the nationals festivities started to begin. We woke up in the morning to a snow storm in Iowa and headed to Tyson Event Center for the first time for all of the newcomers. Here we participated in the Special Olympics event they were hosting. We had the opportunity to shoot hoops, pass, dance, and make friends with many of the Special Olympians. After that we headed to practice at Morningside College. After practice we got some lunch at Subway and the afternoon to ourselves to do homework and hang out while the coaches went to meetings and got things all set for the National Tournament. Today was also the day for the banquet to introduce and honor all of the teams we qualified for the tournament. This year’s theme for the banquet was circus. There was a photo booth which we all actively participated in along with clowns and flame throwers. The nationals committee put together a circus themed video which we starred in! The banquet was also a time for us to all dress up nice, which rarely happens. I must say that we were definitely the best looking team in the building (pictures to come).

Hopefully this helps in catching you up on what the Lady Panthers have been up to, and keep following for much more to come!