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Xavier University Athletics
Greetings from Canada: Raeshaun Gaffney Blog - Day 3
08.10.15 | Women's Basketball
Xavier WBB is playing four exhibition games in Canada on Aug. 7-14
Xavier women's basketball opened an eight-day exhibition tour through Canada on Friday, Aug. 7. The Musketeers will play four games throughout the trip, while visiting Montreal, Niagara Falls and Toronto. Junior Raeshaun Gaffney and a few of her teammates will write a daily blog to keep fans updated on their travels throughout the country.
Xavier Nation,
It's day three in the beautiful Montreal and it's Gameday...lehhgoooo! The wake up call came in around 8:15 a.m. and we all headed down to have breakfast. I had bacon and French toast, which was BOMB, but don't get me started on their fruit. From the watermelon to the berries and pineapples, it was on point!! Basically, the team had the breakfast of champions. So you know what that means, we're locked and loaded for game number two!
But first since the game was a little later, we headed to visit Saint Joseph Oratory of Mount Royal. We were all in awe of the infrastructure and the amount of people who had come from all over to just experience the mass as well as be immersed in the history of St. Joseph. We saw many people of different nationalities as the church was flooded with people. The experience was a crazy eye opening experience, as we were able to walk through the church, see people praying and lighting candles for healing and spiritual growth. We also had the opportunity to see St. Joseph's original church and walk through it to not only see the difference in size, but also the entire infrastructure.
We were all extremely moved and couldn't believe that mass was held in more than five different languages - so it gave me the opportunity to see if my five years of taking Spanish got me anywhere. I think I need to go back to the drawing board as I tried to hold conversations and explain why a few of my teammates and I were here in Spanish to some of the people we met through our tour. I would grade myself about a C- and that's just me being nice. Martha and Marquia also hopped right in when someone tried to speak French. We've only been here three days and a few of us swear we're already fluent. We also took a number of pictures and heard about the history of the church.
From there we left and had pre game meal at a restaurant in the underground mall. We were told the mall is underground because the winters in Montreal can get down to negative degrees. The underground mall was built for the many locals who travel by foot to the underground train station. Once I found out the temperature gets below zero and they still manage to get around I immediately thought of, well I guess that means no SNOW days. If you know me, our team or students in general - we live for snow days!!! Anyways, the meal was good we had grilled chicken and a pasta of our choosing.
From pregame meal we headed back to our hotel for small naps and pre-game preparation. We left the hotel and got on the bus for game two where we played Carleton University. We approached this game as another opportunity to grow and continue to build on our concepts and work on our team chemistry. The game was business as usual as we all were locked in and ready to play.
Before I discuss the game in detail, Jenna and I talked before the game about this year just being different. As a team, I believe the atmosphere and energy is crazy. We all fight like sisters but love each other just as much. Whether we're joking or being serious, it's something about this year that should be special. Jenna and I (however I call her Jen because it less syllables lol) both agreed this trip couldn't come at a better time for a team who's hungry to push pass expectations.
Game two: We started off, both teams, very aggressive but we stuck with our principles and played to our strengths - being aggressive but in control. From really executing in transition and in the half court set, we had fun out there. Oh, and a side note - a quote from Coach Carla who had the opportunity to coach us this game.
"It's not about me, but thanks for playing so hard and having fun out there."
That was the quote of the day as we were actually having fun on the court. We finished the game strong with a 71-37 victory.
After the game we returned to the hotel for a post game meal. We all decided we were missing home a little bit so we couldn't go wrong with a little Burger King and McDonald's. At first we all laughed when someone brought it up, but it wasn't too bad - after all, we sat and talked about the game as a team as well as laughed and joked about other things.
Some of the jokes ranged from when Coach Neal yells which player responds the funniest. I would say my top two reactions go to Anniina and Kayla Davis. I would say Marquia has the best Anniina impersonation and Aliyah has the best Kayla impersonation. Then it's only right we impersonate the coaches. Hands down, Jada Byrd impersonates Coach Carla the best so next time you see her ask her to show you! Jada will probably kill me for saying that, lol!!
But after the laughs and jokes, we were all super tired and ready to turn in so we headed back to the hotel and we had our team meeting and then it was lights out! Oh and side note tomorrow is our off day!!!! So it's ABOUT TO GO DOWN!!!
Rae
Xavier Nation,
It's day three in the beautiful Montreal and it's Gameday...lehhgoooo! The wake up call came in around 8:15 a.m. and we all headed down to have breakfast. I had bacon and French toast, which was BOMB, but don't get me started on their fruit. From the watermelon to the berries and pineapples, it was on point!! Basically, the team had the breakfast of champions. So you know what that means, we're locked and loaded for game number two!
But first since the game was a little later, we headed to visit Saint Joseph Oratory of Mount Royal. We were all in awe of the infrastructure and the amount of people who had come from all over to just experience the mass as well as be immersed in the history of St. Joseph. We saw many people of different nationalities as the church was flooded with people. The experience was a crazy eye opening experience, as we were able to walk through the church, see people praying and lighting candles for healing and spiritual growth. We also had the opportunity to see St. Joseph's original church and walk through it to not only see the difference in size, but also the entire infrastructure.
We were all extremely moved and couldn't believe that mass was held in more than five different languages - so it gave me the opportunity to see if my five years of taking Spanish got me anywhere. I think I need to go back to the drawing board as I tried to hold conversations and explain why a few of my teammates and I were here in Spanish to some of the people we met through our tour. I would grade myself about a C- and that's just me being nice. Martha and Marquia also hopped right in when someone tried to speak French. We've only been here three days and a few of us swear we're already fluent. We also took a number of pictures and heard about the history of the church.
From there we left and had pre game meal at a restaurant in the underground mall. We were told the mall is underground because the winters in Montreal can get down to negative degrees. The underground mall was built for the many locals who travel by foot to the underground train station. Once I found out the temperature gets below zero and they still manage to get around I immediately thought of, well I guess that means no SNOW days. If you know me, our team or students in general - we live for snow days!!! Anyways, the meal was good we had grilled chicken and a pasta of our choosing.
From pregame meal we headed back to our hotel for small naps and pre-game preparation. We left the hotel and got on the bus for game two where we played Carleton University. We approached this game as another opportunity to grow and continue to build on our concepts and work on our team chemistry. The game was business as usual as we all were locked in and ready to play.
Before I discuss the game in detail, Jenna and I talked before the game about this year just being different. As a team, I believe the atmosphere and energy is crazy. We all fight like sisters but love each other just as much. Whether we're joking or being serious, it's something about this year that should be special. Jenna and I (however I call her Jen because it less syllables lol) both agreed this trip couldn't come at a better time for a team who's hungry to push pass expectations.
Game two: We started off, both teams, very aggressive but we stuck with our principles and played to our strengths - being aggressive but in control. From really executing in transition and in the half court set, we had fun out there. Oh, and a side note - a quote from Coach Carla who had the opportunity to coach us this game.
"It's not about me, but thanks for playing so hard and having fun out there."
That was the quote of the day as we were actually having fun on the court. We finished the game strong with a 71-37 victory.
After the game we returned to the hotel for a post game meal. We all decided we were missing home a little bit so we couldn't go wrong with a little Burger King and McDonald's. At first we all laughed when someone brought it up, but it wasn't too bad - after all, we sat and talked about the game as a team as well as laughed and joked about other things.
Some of the jokes ranged from when Coach Neal yells which player responds the funniest. I would say my top two reactions go to Anniina and Kayla Davis. I would say Marquia has the best Anniina impersonation and Aliyah has the best Kayla impersonation. Then it's only right we impersonate the coaches. Hands down, Jada Byrd impersonates Coach Carla the best so next time you see her ask her to show you! Jada will probably kill me for saying that, lol!!
But after the laughs and jokes, we were all super tired and ready to turn in so we headed back to the hotel and we had our team meeting and then it was lights out! Oh and side note tomorrow is our off day!!!! So it's ABOUT TO GO DOWN!!!
Rae
Players Mentioned
Guard
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