The Illinois State women's basketball program is on an 11-day foreign trip (Aug. 6-16) exploring Italy. Follow the Redbirds on social media (#BirdsAbroad) and with a daily travel log on goredbrids.com. Today's blog entry post is brought to you by Advocate BroMenn Medical Center.
Wednesday, August 14
9 a.m. – Ate breakfast at our hotel (NH Laguna Palace) in Mestre and then loaded the bus and headed off to our destination, Como.
11 a.m. – We made a stop in Verona, where we saw the arena. We also walked the streets of Verona and stopped to get gelato (strachiatella seems to be one of our favorites). We did a little shopping in stores along the way to the house of Juliet from Romeo and Juliet. There we saw Juliet's balcony, the wall full of gum and love notes, and took a picture with the statue out front. After we saw the house, we walked to the market where we got cups of fresh fruit, some of the best I've ever had. In the market, there were several souvenir shops where some of the players got Verona bracelets.
1 p.m. – All of us met back at the arena to walk to the bus to continue our journey to Como. Around 3:45 p.m., we arrived into Como and checked into our hotel (Hotel Regina Olga).
4:30 p.m. – We walked across the street for a pregame meal of pasta and chicken and potatoes, with fruit for dessert.
6 p.m. – The team boarded the bus for our game against TK Hanover, a team from Germany, and arrived at the gym 45 minutes later.
8 p.m. – We played our game against TK Hanover and picked up a hard-fought win. TeTe had the game-winning basket off a full court pass from Juju with 18 seconds remaining. After the game, we took a picture with the other team and took a picture as an entire group.
Game Recap – The Redbirds closed their Italian tour with a big 67-65 victory over TK Hanover Wednesday night in Comune di Costa Masnaga, just outside Lake Como. TK Hanover, which was coming off a win against UNC Wilmington this week, is a professional team from Germany. Senior Tete Maggett led the Redbirds with 15 points, while senior Lexi Wallen supplied 11 points and 5 rebounds. Sophomore Lexy Koudelka and junior Juju Redmond each added 8 points.
The Birds got off to a slow start and were down 12-0 to start the game. After an early timeout, the team regrouped and trailed 21-12 after the 1st quarter. Illinois State closed the deficit to 34-27 at half, before Maggett closed the 3rd quarter with a 3-pointer to give ISU a 51-49 lead heading into the 4th quarter. A Wallen layup gave the Redbirds their biggest lead of the game at 65-58 with just over a minute left to play, but TK Hanover responded and tied the game at 65 with 18 seconds left to play. A drawn-up play after a timeout allowed Maggett to score the go-ahead basket and Illinois State held on for a defensive stop to get the win.
"This trip has been a great head start for our team heading into November. I am really proud of them for gutting out this win against a good team. Italy has been a great experience for our program both on and off the court," head coach Kristen Gillespie said.
9:45 p.m. – After the big win, we boarded the bus with our pizza and headed back to the hotel. During the bus ride, Brian showed us his wonderful dance moves.
10:30 p.m. – We arrived at the hotel, where a couple of the players walked up the little street for a cup/cone of gelato to cap off a wonderful day.
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