Women's Basketball California Blog
11/21/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Seton Hall University women's basketball team is taking a five-day Thanksgiving holiday trip out to Malibu, Calif., to compete in a tournament at Pepperdine University on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 23-24. Check back at SHUPirates.com each day for a recap of the team's trip!
Friday, November 23
It was back to business today for the Seton Hall women's basketball team as the Pirates faced Wyoming in the first round of the Pepperdine University Thanksgiving Tournament.
The day started off with a film session and team breakfast at the team hotel before the Pirates boarded the bus to head over to Pepperdine for the early afternoon game against Wyoming.
Unfortunately Seton Hall did not get the result it was looking for, falling in a tight game, 55-45. Defensively the Pirates were excellent, holding Wyoming to just 20 first-half points on 5-of-21 shooting.
Seton Hall created more than 20 turnovers for the third-straight game and limited the Cowgirls to just 2-of-13 shooting from three point range. But Wyoming made a big second half comeback after trailing by 11 points by getting to the free throw line over and over again. By the end of the game Wyoming had 27 more free throw attempts than Seton Hall and scored an extra 19 points at the line.
After the tough loss the Pirates quickly grabbed something to eat and then scouted their next opponent, which will be the University of South Dakota tomorrow afternoon.
By Saturday night the team was already preparing for South Dakota, with less than 24 hours between games due to the tournament format.
On one California-related note, several of the team coaches, managers and staff made a trip over to In-N-Out Burger for dinner, and it was delicious. Something you can't get back on the East coast!
Seton Hall concludes its four-game road trip on Saturday afternoon as the Pirates look to end their trip on a high note before heading back east.
Check back at SHUPirates.com for more dispatches from Malibu.
Go Pirates!
Thursday, November 22
Happy Thanksgiving from the Seton Hall women's basketball team!
The third day in California was another mix of fun and play for the Pirates, and of course the team also took time to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Following breakfast and film this morning at the hotel the team took its first trip over to Pepperdine University for practice.
The trip to Pepperdine from the team hotel takes the Malibu Canyon Road through Malibu Creek State Park in what was a really beautiful ride through winding roads and small mountain range that features a lot of unique exposed rock faces.
Once you make your way through the canyon the Pacific Ocean is waiting on the other side, and sitting just above the ocean is Pepperdine's campus, which sits up on a hillside overlooking the water to the south.
After a sharp practice the team split into two groups, with some of the team electing to return to the hotel for rest and study and the other half taking a group trip down to Venice Beach.
There was not too much time to spend at the beach with the Thanksgiving celebration coming up tonight, but it was well worth the afternoon trip down to LA. Our bus driver took the team down the Pacific Coast Highway, through Malibu and Santa Monica on the way to Venice.
Venice offered a unique blend of eclectic shopping, restaurants, beaches, rec areas and a lot of really nice ocean front properties. It was actually a little chilly for southern California standards late on Thursday afternoon, but there were still clear blue skies and beautiful surroundings.
Once meeting up back at the bus we returned to the hotel regroup for Thanksgiving dinner. Before sitting down to eat the team stood in a circle while everyone in the group gave thanks for the most important people and things in their lives, including everyone's second family, the Pirate basketball team.
The team dinner featured all of the traditional Thanksgiving staples, turkey, and stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pumpkin and apple pies.
Tomorrow it will be time for the team to get down to business as they face Wyoming in the first round of the Pepperdine Tournament at 1 p.m. The winner will face either Pepperdine or South Dakota on Saturday.
Check back at SHUPirates.com for more dispatches from Malibu.
Go Pirates!
Wednesday, November 21
The second day out in California was a long one for the Pirates, but the team got a lot done, both on the court and in terms of sightseeing.
It was a pretty early start to the day with breakfast at 7 a.m., although the internal clock still thought it was 10 in the morning because of the time change. After that the team loaded the bus to head over to Agoura Hills High School for a morning practice.
One neat fact about Agoura Hills is that it has sent three players to the NFL, including current Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, who also played collegiately at nearby USC. Team athletic trainer Margeritte Carlson managed to snap a photo of Matthews’ signed Packers jersey on display at the school.
Once the business part of the day came to an end it was back to the hotel to quickly get ready for a trip to Disneyland in somewhat nearby Anaheim, Calif.
Although our group was fortunate enough to travel out to Los Angeles on Tuesday morning we did get to experience some travel headaches on the busiest travel day of the year and learned how congested traffic in the LA area can be. But eventually we made it to Disneyland with plenty of time to spend in the parks.
The team had a Disneyland Park Hopper pass, gaining access to both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure.
There was a lot to do in the afternoon at the Parks including rides, shopping and food. At Disneyland California Adventure there was the Hollywood Tower of Terror and the California Screamin’ roller coaster. The Tower of Terror in particular was a big hit with the players and coaches.
Disneyland Park featured all of the traditional Disney staples like Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Sleeping Beauty Castle. Both parks were fully decked out in holiday decorations as we are just a day away from Thanksgiving and the official start of the holiday season.
After a rendezvous at the main entrance of Disneyland it was back to the bus after a full day.
Tomorrow promises to be another packed day for the Pirates as they continue to prep for the Pepperdine Tournament and celebrate Thanksgiving.
Check back at SHUPirates.com for more dispatches from Malibu.
Go Pirates!
Tuesday, November 20It was a pretty low key day for the Seton Hall University women's basketball team as the Pirates began five-day trip to the west coast to compete in the Pepperdine Thanksgiving Tournament later this week.
Coming off a game at Michigan last night it was an early wake-up call this morning, as the team departed the hotel in Ann Arbor at 6:30 a.m., to head off to the airport for the second leg of their holiday excursion.
After a quick breakfast at the airport the team boarded a plane for a four hour flight from Detroit to LAX, and things couldn't have gone any smoother, with an early arrival to Los Angeles International on Tuesday morning.
Seton Hall was greeted by sunny skies and mild weather in the mid 60's in California before loading up to head over the team hotel and what will be home base for the next five days.
Shortly after arrival at the hotel the team broke down film with the coaching staff before departing for a leisurely trip to The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
The indoor-outdoor shopping complex gave the team plenty to do for the rest of the afternoon between lunch, shopping and movies, and then it was back home to study before lights out.
Wednesday will be another full day for Seton Hall with a morning practice at Pepperdine's campus in Malibu before an exciting visit to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim later in the afternoon.
Check back at SHUPirates.com for more daily dispatches from Malibu.
Go Pirates!
