Saturday, Day 7

We pulled out a close one against Eastern Oregon this afternoon after being down by 7 at halftime and as much as 12 at one point. This comeback was definitely our most exciting win of the season as it left some of us in smiles, and others in tears. After the game we watched out next opponents who will actually be the defending champions, Northwestern. Northwestern, is the team we upset Davenport 2 years ago in the National Championship so we will be seeking a little bit of revenge. The rest of the evening consisted of homework, hanging out, eating dinner, and team bonding. After dinner we came back to the hotel and played "Mafia" with our team and some players from St. Francis. It was overall a great day, and one that most of us will never forget!

ELITE 8

It is day 3 of our 3 game stretch and we are more ready than ever to take on  Eastern Oregon, and looking to be the first team in the Final Four. We had a great shoot around this morning, with Coach Williams hitting the half court shot to end it. For those of you who don't know, I will let you in on a little DUWBB tradition. After every game day shoot around, someone has to hit a half court shot before anyone can leave the gym. The last time that Coach Williams hit the half courter dates back to February 13, 2013 when we had a 70-46 win over Concordia. After shoot around we ate pregame meal and are now getting ready for the big game! Tune into watch or listen on the DAN at  2 EST!


Mike Williams, today's half court shot winner

Friday, Day 6: Sweet Sixteen

We played bright and early this morning and got a win against Cardinal Stritch to advance to the Elite 8. After we watched Concordia play Northwestern, the defending National Champions. After coming back to the hotel and cleaning up and having study hall, we went back to watch our next opponent Eastern Oregon. After the game we spent most of the afternoon and evening at our sponsor's house eating  dinner, watched movies, and had the chance to to relax for the day. After our time spent there we came back and went on a team walk, watched film, and are now getting ready for bed so we can wake up early for our next big day! We play tomorrow at 2 EST in the Elite 8 game!

Thursday, Day 5: GAME DAY

It was finally game day in Sioux City! We beat College of St. Mary's this morning 96-59 with Kendra Cook leading the way with a career high points of 24. Karli Harris also had 19 points while becoming the 11th player of our program to reach the 1,000 point mark! After only briefly soaking up our win, we headed back to the hotel for lunch and then back to the gym to prepare for tomorrow's game against Cardinal Stritch. We will take on the wolves at 9:30 EST in hopes of advancing to the Elite Eight. After practice we went back to the Tyson Center to watch Sienna Heights in their first Nationals appearance. As for now we are getting to bed early so we can wake up bright and early for game two of the tournament!

Wednesday Day 4

Day 4:

Today the first round of games started for the 2013 National Tournament and will be completed by the remaining 16 teams tomorrow. We woke up this morning and headed to Sioux City High School for practice after having film and breakfast at the hotel. After practice we went to the Tyson Center to watch some basketball, including our fellow WHAC team Concordia. One of the biggest highlights of our busy day was visiting the two elementary schools that our sponsor's kids attend. We got to visit the classrooms of kindergardeners and third graders, who were just as excited to meet us as we were to meet them. They made posters for all of us and were filled with questions and stories for each of us. The next big event on the agenda was dinner with all of our sponsors, who definitely spoil us, at Minerva's. Here we also celebrated Coach William's and Emily's birthdays! After dinner we headed back to the arena for the opening ceremonies and for the famous spelling out of NAIA on the court wilth all of the qualifying teams (pictures to comes) and exchanged our gifts. We gave them tshirts and they gave us shirts as well. While waiting for the time to pass our team entertained ourselves by singing, dancing, and playing the crocodile game. A lot of the parents arrived tonight as well so we got to see them at the opening ceremony! After we hung around the watch #1 seed Morning side play Webber. We are now back at the hotel and getting ready to head to bed and prepare for our game tomorrow! We play at 11:15 EST against College of St. Mary's, for all of the tournament information you can visit the following link: http://dupanthers.com/sports/2013/2/14/WBB_0214131547.aspx

Kia with some kids at the elementary school

Playing the crocodile game to pass the time

Elementary classroom

Harlem Shake

Before leaving for Nationals the team decided to have a little fun and make a Harlem Shake video, starring Linnea Sweeds Brandholm!

Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP26bCsmZks

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!