Michele Matyasovsky
Nov. 8, 2002 -- Hey everyone! Well, I have had a very interesting past few weeks, so I decided to highlight just a few of the comedic events. At
the end of October, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the ACC media day, which is held at the ACC headquarters in Greensboro, N.C. It is an all-day event, where you have lunch and then answer about four hours of questions with print media, radio, and TV.
Coach G, Alana and I went around to different rooms and answered questions about the upcoming season, etc. Well, by the time we got to the last couple of rooms we were exhausted! After four hours of straight interviewing, it becomes a little repetitive and hard to concentrate.
So when we get to the press conference room, Alana is asked to talk a little bit about how competitive women's college
basketball has become, and what it's like to be ranked preseason No. 1. She started off her answer very well, and I was sitting next to
her just nodding my head agreeing with what she was saying. Then halfway through her answer she just stops and pauses for about 15
seconds. I look over to her and she looks at me, and then to the reporters, and says, "Um ... yeah ... I forget what I was saying ... can you please repeat the question?" Well, Alana and I just started cracking up and we looked over to Coach G who was trying not to laugh but wasn't doing a very good job!
After we finished the interviews, Lindy Brown (the best sports information director ever!) took Alana and I to Krispy Kreme. I ordered two doughnuts while Alana proceeded to order a dozen glazed ones! Not only did she order that many, but then she ended up eating six of them in a row! So if the owners of Krispy Kreme ever read my diary, I would just like to tell them that they should probably have Alana endorse their product. You don't even need to pay her -- just give her hot, glazed doughnuts and she'll be content!!!
Alright, the next thing I wanted to talk about was my hilarious experience last night (Thursday). I attended the Black Student Alliance
auction that is held each year in order to raise money for charity. Iciss, Alana, and Lindsey decided that they would help raise money for charity by being auctioned off. Let me emphasize once again that the reason they were doing this was for charity! Ha Ha!,
So anyway, they didn't get auctioned off until the end, but they definitely saved the best for last! The three of them walked down the stairs in their Nike warm-ups, but when they got to the bottom, they surprised everyone by ripping off their pants and shirt. Underneath their warm-ups they all wore really short skirts and cute tops and the whole crowd went nuts!! All together they raised about $530 and our team had a great time watching it! I took a few pictures of them and will send them along later for you to enjoy! It was an awesome night, and I'm just glad our team could help the charity!
Well, I'm off to watch my roommate's volleyball game! They are playing the "other" school down the road (UNC)! Go Duke!!!!
|  | | Alana Beard, Iciss Tillis and Lindsey Harding (from left) went from sweats to swanky outfits at the Black Student Alliance auction. |
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Caitlin Howe
Nov. 14, 2002 -- Hey everybody! I know it's been awhile since my last diary. I know, I know, I'm sorry! So I've got a lot to tell ya'll about (the North Carolina influence is starting to show!).
The team has been working really hard. Coach G has started to bring males in to scrimmage against us on a daily basis. I think this is a good idea because the guys are pretty athletic and they don't know our plays so it simulates more game-like situations. Everyone has been improving and getting in better shape.
Our first exhibition game was on Nov. 5 against the Premier Players, a team consisting of former college players and some current pro players. The Players didn't turn out to be too premier as we squashed them by more than 50 points. However, in defense of the Premier Players (who, by the way were very well-coached by Steve Pratt, the cofounder of Full Package, Mike White and Brett McCormick), they only had three days of practice together as a team and they play an inhumane amount of games in a short period of time.
Despite the fact that we won according to the scoreboard, the Duke team experienced a huge loss in another way. At the beginning of the game, Iciss Tillis won the tipoff and tapped the ball to Monique Currie, an extremely talented sophomore. Mo drove hard to the hoop and went down. I swear that my heart skipped a beat. Monique tried to get up and walk it off, but as soon as she put weight on the leg, her knee collapsed.
Experiencing a number of knee injuries myself, I was praying that she would grab her ankle instead of her knee. Five seconds into the game, and Monique's season was over. As an MRI (similar to an x-ray shows ligaments and soft tissue) confirmed, Monique tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee, which requires surgical reconstruction and six months of rehab.
I have suffered two ACL tears and I can tell you that it isn't fun to deal with but you can recover from it. I've been impressed by the maturity and acceptance that Mo has shown over the past week. She is a tough kid and doesn't allow anyone to pity her. This has helped our team to accept the loss and move on.
The following week on Nov. 13, we had our second scrimmage versus Team Concept. Minus Monique, senior Sheana Mosch started in her place and has really stepped up her game. The game started at an unbelievable clip as we scored our first 29 points by shooting 100 percent from the field. The team played well as we went on to win by a large margin. Mistie Bass, a freshman center, scored in double figures while junior Alana Beard proved why she is a National Player of the Year candidate with 26 points.
We had a slight scare, as freshman Jessica Foley was blindsided by a pick right in front of our bench. She hit the deck hard and was obviously in a fair bit of pain. Our trainer, Joe Angus, rushed out onto the court and asked Foley what had happened. Being from Australia, Jessica replied that she had been "cocked". So Joe asked her again and her reply was the same, "I got cocked." Translation: She had a charlie horse because the other player had kneed her in the quad. So now y'all know to try to avoid being cocked because it can be quite painful! Have a great week!
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