In the Backcourt with Backes
December 07, 2018 | Women's Basketball
Thanksgiving trip provides bonding time for Badgers
MADISON, Wis. – Get an inside look at the Wisconsin Women's Basketball team all season long as freshman Carmen Backes writes a bi-weekly blog called "In the Backcourt with Backes!"
In her third blog, Backes writes about the Badgers trip to Nashville over the Thanksgiving weekend. The team has a chance to do some team bonding, enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with family and win a tournament!
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The holiday season already seems to be flying by so fast it's difficult to step back and reflect on all the exciting opportunities we have had as a team!
For our Thanksgiving break, we played in a tournament in Nashville and celebrated the holiday together as a Badger family. We won a three-way tie for the Challenge in Music City tournament title by allowing the least amount of points to be scored (163) out of the teams who were all 2-1 on the weekend. In addition, Marsha Howard and Kendra Van Leeuwen were both selected to the all-tournament team and Marsha took home the MVP trophy. Each game was a battle, but we took the time to prepare mentally and recover physically. We improved and learned about ourselves a lot over the span of three competitive games.
We left Madison the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and started the trip off with some quality bonding time on the plane due to a slight delay for weather. When we finally arrived, we settled into our rooms at the historic Union Station hotel in downtown Nashville. The hotel's uniqueness added a fun element to our stay. Union Station was an old train station built in 1900 and has now been converted into a luxury hotel after a $15.5 million renovation. We experienced more than one historically significant site in Tennessee. We had the honor to have our Thanksgiving practice at Fisk University, which was the first African American university established after the Civil War. After our practice, we had free time to explore downtown Nashville. I think it's fair to say the highlight may have been renting Bird scooters.
That night we had a delicious Thanksgiving feast with our families in the lobby. It was very nice to step away from basketball and celebrate the holiday with one another. Our relaxed evening ended the vacation segment, and the business part of our trip began.
Our first win against ACC opponent Pitt was a great confidence booster. It was impressive to see how many family members made the trip down to fill up our fan section. That night we had team stretching and recovery to prepare for the physical battle against Tennessee State the next day. We played four solid quarters and that 58-53 win gave us our first 6-0 start to the season since 2006-07.
We made it to the championship game and once again prepared for battle not only against another team this time but also against fatigue. Before each game, we traveled to a local university and had a shoot around so that everyone could warm up, break a sweat, and review the game plan. Usually shoot arounds last an hour and begin with a few team drills designed to raise everyone's heartrate. Then we got a good amount of shots up before reviewing the opponents sets from film and going through our own.
We knew the last game against Arkansas was going to be the toughest battle. At halftime we were up by two points but could not hold on in the final minutes and lost by one point 69-68. Although we were not undefeated anymore, it was a valuable learning experience. We took some time and allowed that horrible gut feeling of losing to sit with us and then we knew we had to move on.
Even though we lost the final game, we ended up winning the tournament since no team went 3-0 and we allowed the least amount of points scored. We can take pride in that defensive accomplishment and the toughness we showed throughout the three days even though the loss at the end left behind a bad aftertaste.
We are so thankful and fortunate for a successful trip safe from injury and full of wonderful memories together. On Tuesday, we beat Marshall and now we are back on another winning streak looking forward to a major in-state rivalry against Green Bay Saturday!
On, Wisconsin!
Carmen Backes
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In her third blog, Backes writes about the Badgers trip to Nashville over the Thanksgiving weekend. The team has a chance to do some team bonding, enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with family and win a tournament!
Â
The holiday season already seems to be flying by so fast it's difficult to step back and reflect on all the exciting opportunities we have had as a team!
For our Thanksgiving break, we played in a tournament in Nashville and celebrated the holiday together as a Badger family. We won a three-way tie for the Challenge in Music City tournament title by allowing the least amount of points to be scored (163) out of the teams who were all 2-1 on the weekend. In addition, Marsha Howard and Kendra Van Leeuwen were both selected to the all-tournament team and Marsha took home the MVP trophy. Each game was a battle, but we took the time to prepare mentally and recover physically. We improved and learned about ourselves a lot over the span of three competitive games.
We left Madison the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and started the trip off with some quality bonding time on the plane due to a slight delay for weather. When we finally arrived, we settled into our rooms at the historic Union Station hotel in downtown Nashville. The hotel's uniqueness added a fun element to our stay. Union Station was an old train station built in 1900 and has now been converted into a luxury hotel after a $15.5 million renovation. We experienced more than one historically significant site in Tennessee. We had the honor to have our Thanksgiving practice at Fisk University, which was the first African American university established after the Civil War. After our practice, we had free time to explore downtown Nashville. I think it's fair to say the highlight may have been renting Bird scooters.
That night we had a delicious Thanksgiving feast with our families in the lobby. It was very nice to step away from basketball and celebrate the holiday with one another. Our relaxed evening ended the vacation segment, and the business part of our trip began.
Our first win against ACC opponent Pitt was a great confidence booster. It was impressive to see how many family members made the trip down to fill up our fan section. That night we had team stretching and recovery to prepare for the physical battle against Tennessee State the next day. We played four solid quarters and that 58-53 win gave us our first 6-0 start to the season since 2006-07.
We made it to the championship game and once again prepared for battle not only against another team this time but also against fatigue. Before each game, we traveled to a local university and had a shoot around so that everyone could warm up, break a sweat, and review the game plan. Usually shoot arounds last an hour and begin with a few team drills designed to raise everyone's heartrate. Then we got a good amount of shots up before reviewing the opponents sets from film and going through our own.
We knew the last game against Arkansas was going to be the toughest battle. At halftime we were up by two points but could not hold on in the final minutes and lost by one point 69-68. Although we were not undefeated anymore, it was a valuable learning experience. We took some time and allowed that horrible gut feeling of losing to sit with us and then we knew we had to move on.
Even though we lost the final game, we ended up winning the tournament since no team went 3-0 and we allowed the least amount of points scored. We can take pride in that defensive accomplishment and the toughness we showed throughout the three days even though the loss at the end left behind a bad aftertaste.
We are so thankful and fortunate for a successful trip safe from injury and full of wonderful memories together. On Tuesday, we beat Marshall and now we are back on another winning streak looking forward to a major in-state rivalry against Green Bay Saturday!
On, Wisconsin!
Carmen Backes
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Players Mentioned
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