Day 1 - Game Time

By Kasey Uetrecht

With our first game in Costa Rica in the books, it was definitely one to remember.  First, trying to navigate these busy Costa Rican streets during rush hours was crazy! It was like a crazy rat race with cars, buses, and motorcycles zooming by, weaving in and out and dodging traffic.  After every few seconds some bold move by a driver would be followed by an angry honk.  It was quite entertaining to watch.  We needed entertainment on the way to the gym since it took us about two hours to get to the gym, a gym that was only 15 miles away.

When we got to the gym we were greeted by dim lights in a dome-like arena.  The stands completely surrounded us as our five fans (Becca [Lyttle]’s parents and the Plitzuweit family) overlooked the floor. We had twenty minutes to get our shoes on and get ready to play. Escorted to the nearest locker room, filled with probably 60 fold-up chairs (no exaggeration) we were crammed in there like sardines trying to put our shoes on.

When we first started to warm-up there were quite a bit of air balls for two reasons, I think: the dim lights and the back drop behind the back board kind of threw off our perception of shooting the ball. A few things about the court were different than the ones at home: the three point line was 2 feet further back and the lane lines were about a foot wider on either side. By the time we got acclimated, it was time to play.   Our starters came out fast and furious, shooting 5-for-5 from the field and jumping to a 12-3 lead.

The Costa Rican National team surprised me in a couple different ways: their guards were very quick and could handle the ball.  They didn’t look to shoot it from the outside as much as some other teams that we are used to playing but they found ways to get it in the paint with their quickness and athletic ability.  The second way they surprised us was how physical they were.  Going in we knew we weren’t going to get many calls but when they ripped the ball from our hands a couple times and a lot of contact was going on, we knew we were in for a dog fight.  They liked to pressure full court, even their bigs.  They wanted to pressure you and get you flustered to make mistakes.  I think this was good for us because this kind of defense is what we will see in conference.

In the end, with solid defense and efficiency in scoring the ball, we came out on top 61-46.  For our first “game” and being up since 3:30 this morning, I thought we came out with a lot of energy and played very well.  The potential for this team is unlimited and I can’t wait to see how great we can really be.