Pictures

Ok, I've finally had a little time to relax and load pictures onto my laptop so I thought I would share some pictures from the first semester and the first part of our season. I hope you enjoy and Merry Christmas from all of us at RU!


The team stretching before our game at the University of Evansville in Indiana.







Kelli and Serena on the plane going to New York (maybe Serena is making that face because she doesn't want to sit next to Kelli?)

The girls looking festive at the Hoop Group Christmas Party









More of the girls and guys at the Christmas Party








For those of you who don't know, Sarah is very talented off the court. Here, she's singing and playing the piano at the Christmas Party.









Davida, Meagan, Shavon, Corrie, and Rachel sporting red Rudolph noses at the Christmas party

Merry Christmas

Ok I know it has been a LONG time since I last posted a journal entry...my mom has reminded me of that fact every day lately. I have no good excuse as to why I haven't kept up better except that I really haven't had much to say. Since I last wrote, alot has been going on. So, here's a quick update to catch all of you up on what's going on in the lives of the Lady Highlanders. On Dec. 4th, we hit the road for what seems like our 10th road trip of the year to play Belmont University in Nashville, TN. The restaurant we ate at the night before the game had line dance lessons and then a chance to show off what you had learned. Needless to say, our girls are not at all shy and they quickly became the life of the party. I think everyone in the building knew who the best dancers were because they got somewhat of a large cheer when we finally dragged them off the floor to get back to the hotel. We then had a 13 day break in our schedule because the NCAA will not allow us to play a game during finals week. Our girls studied very hard and from what we hear from them, we should achieve our team goal of at least a 3.0 team grade point average. During finals week, we brought in our male practice team to give us the opportunity to play against some better competition and polish up or correct a few things we had noticed in the first 7 games of the season. All of us coaches made recruiting trips that week loooking for the next class of Lady Highlanders and came back feeling good about the players we are going after. We also attended the Hoop Group Christmas Party. That party is put on by a group of mens and womens RU basketball supporters and always means a great night of conversation and some very good food. The picture at the top is Corrie, Vandy, Kelli, Meagan, and Rachel at the party. After finals, we played a much needed home game against Appalachian State University. We won that game by 12 and had several players come out and play very well for us. Sarah led us with 17 points, Corrie had a double-double, and Johnette played very solid at the PG position in front of her Mom, Dad, and sister who made the trip to Radford. Our last game before Christmas break was once again on the road at East Tennessee State University. We lost a heartbreaker in Johnson City with a score of 54-52 and returned to Radford wishing we could have that one back. We know that we are more talented than our record shows right now and we hope that the lessons we are learning through all of these road games will pay off when conference play rolls around. As for now, it is officially Christmas Eve and I am very happy to be at home in Georgia with my family and my dog. My little brother and I have been watching christmas tournament games the past two days and doing some last minute shopping. The crowd at Walmart today made me promise to finish my shopping much earlier next year! Even though I can never fully escape from hoops and take my mind completely off basketball and our season, I love this short break and the chance to sleep in, see my family, and eat a few home-cooked meals. I hope this gets you all caught up and excited about everything that is going on with RU basketball. I, along with all of the RU Women's Hoops family would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy new year. Put in on your calendars now: we play 4 straight home games starting on New Year's Eve and we'd love to see you in the stands. See you then!
Merry Christmas,
JRA

Road Warriors

It was a long weekend of traveling to Ithaca, New York for the Lady Highlanders. We left Radford last Thursday morning at 5am and finally made it back yesterday afternoon. We came back 1-1 in the tournament after losing a tough one to Duquesne on Friday night and then beat tournament host Cornell on Saturday afternoon in the consolation game. The girls (especially Johnette) complained about the dinner we ordered on Friday after the game and then were commenting during the game on Saturday that since we were winning, maybe they would get to eat good on Saturday night. They said they have to work hard for their meals. They did play very well on Saturday against Cornell and it was very apparent that defense was the focus. Some of our defenses looked as good as we've seen them look all year. It's great as a coach to watch a team have so much fun playing defense. I hope that continues! We had a good dinner on Saturday night and as always, we were the life of the entire restaurant. When you get all of us sitting at one table, it always seems to get loud and we can tell that everyone else is jealous that they can't be included in our fun! The girls sang happy birthday to a complete stranger and I think a few of them were flirting with our waiter. It was a good way to end our trip. Today, we will get on the bus to go to Nashville, Tennessee to play Belmont University tomorrow night. It is about a 5 1/2 hour trip and I'm hoping the DVD player on the bus works so we can pass the time watching movies. Belmont is a great team who won their conference last year, and beating them on the road would be a big win for us. My Dad is bringing my grandmother and great aunt to the game so I'm very excited! I hope to write again on Wednesday when we make it back to RU. After that, no more road games until the 20th...we'll be glad to sleep in our own beds for a while.

The top left picture is Becca (our manager), Coach T, and Corrie at dinner Saturday night. The top right picture is Shavon, Meagan, Bebe, and Becca chillin in their hotel room.

JRA