The Hawkeyes tipped off in Naples on Sunday against a team called the Slammers. And long story short: The slammers got slammed 116-46. It was one of three games on the international schedule, but Coach Lisa Bluder doesn’t seem to value the final score that much either way.
“To me it’s not about the games over there,” Bluder said back in July. “The international game is so different from our game and you’re playing against either really good people or really bad people. To me, it’s not about the outcome of the game.”
Iowa did have 10 practices in Iowa City before they took flight 5,000 miles away from home. In the sense of basketball, Kate Martin finds the trip to be a critical piece of the team filling two major voids.
“We lost two key pieces to our team last year with Monika [Czinano] and McKenna [Warnock] moving on,” Martin said. “It’s really good for us to get these extra 10 practices to get our feet under us and get a feel for this new team. Being able to play a couple games over there’s awesome and then it’s super good for team bonding.”
“It couldn’t have come at a better time,” Addison O’Grady said. “I get a little bit of a taste and practice of playing with the other starters who have been here for a while.”
O’Grady, of course, will be competing for minutes in the starting rotation, with the task of replacing Czinano. But the first game of the season is three months away.
Aside from basketball, the Hawkeyes are going to go ziplining, enjoy Italian cuisine and put their phones down to take in their surroundings.
“We’re doing a lot of fun things,” Gabbie Marshall said. “Coach Bluder does a great job of planning things to do.”
“The biggest benefit to me when you get over there is bonding and team chemistry,” Bluder said. “Making memories, having fun. The thing I’m looking forward to is a cooking class in Italy. I mean, Italian food, right? And the second thing is probably ziplining.”
Up next on the international schedule is KK Tresnjevka 2009 (Croatian Club Team) on August 11, and the Croatian All-Stars on August 13 before returning to Iowa City on August 16.
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