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Senior Kristen Dalton played a large part in helping lead the Mountain Hawks to the 2009 Patriot League title as well as a spot in the NCAA Tournament.  A native of Monmouth, New Jersey Dalton appeared in 33 games during the 2008-09 season, averaging a career-best 6.1 points during that time.  She sank 29 three-pointers on the year and connected on over 88-percent at the free throw line.  Dalton scored a season-high 20 points in a win over Fordham and for her career has appeared in over 70 contests.  A journalism major, Kristen is a multi-year member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and the Dean’s List.  Check back soon for her latest update.

Rolling – March 25
It was seven in the morning and we were barely awake. We shuffled our tired bodies down the long hallway. We were on the move again. This time to the bus that would be taking us back to Bethlehem. We were the last two people on the bus and as I walked down the aisle, I saw the exhausted expressions on my teammates’ faces. I took my seat and let my head rest against the back of it, eyes closed and my iPod singing soft melodies to me. The rumble of the bus welcomed the early morning road as we began our departure from lovely Iowa.

I had found it difficult to place my feelings the night before. The night we sat in the locker room, looking at each other. Some with tears. We had looked at these faces for countless days and weeks and months but that night was different. There was a different look in everyone’s eyes. There was a little less fight in them. A little more defeat. There was a different tone in everyone’s voices. A little less life, a little more sadness. We were praised for a valiant effort and a glorious season, one that will go in the record books. But none of us felt like that had mattered. Not in the moment, anyway. What we were feeling in that moment, was shock. The realization that everything of this year had finally come to a close was on the brink of seeping into my emotions. But I just couldn’t find any room for it. It was too soon.

When I opened my eyes again and looked at my teammates sleeping and listening to music, quiet in their seats as the bus rolled along, I felt a sense of peace come over me. I looked out the window and saw the sun was just waking as well. I’ve never seen an Iowan sunrise. But I saw one that morning and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. The thing about the Midwest is the sky. The sky is so spacious. There are no mountains to obstruct your view of the world above us. So when the sun felt like burning through the horizon line, I smiled. It was one of the most peaceful things I had ever seen. The bright shades or orange and yellow blending with the soft blues that were still lingering from the night. I was listening to The Adventure by Angels and Airwaves and thought to myself, what an adventure we had had. What an amazing adventure. Full of laughter and surprises. Full of challenges. Full of emotions I didn’t even know I had. It was an array of feelings that left me exhausted and in a way, relieved. There is so much we carry within ourselves throughout the season. When I saw the sunrise guide us to the airport, I let myself release those unspoken emotions. It came in the form of a few trickling tears that rolled down my face, like the rolling flats of Iowa.

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Good Morning! – March 20
Just got back from breakfast in the hotel. Nothing special, just some scrambled eggs and toast with coffee and OJ. Pretty standard breakfast of champions. Last night was fun. We went to this restaurant called Legends where we chowed down on some grub and watched the men’s NCAA games. I truly believe my teammates are the funniest people I know. It’s encouraging when you seem to be getting funnier by the minute, with every passing comment or story told. We just seem to be getting exponentially funnier. Maybe not. Maybe we’re just soaking in the moment and basking in its glory. Maybe that’s why everything seems heightened and that much better, more full of life and energy and enthusiasm.

Today’s schedule consists of a film and scout session at 11 am followed by lunch and then we depart for our practice around 2 pm, where it will be open to the media for comments, questions and concerns. I believe this open practice will be available online for the folks back home to watch. This is exciting! I cannot stress that enough. We’re rollin’ like big shots!

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Almost Famous – March 19
Before we left on our private flight at Hangar 7 at the ABE airport, I stood on the steps and turned around to face the place I was departing. I grinned and waved to the grass, the wind, the buildings and trees. I waved to nobody. I was Miss America, traveling on a jet plane, waving goodbye to the place I had come from, eager for the new adventure before me. I pretended to be something larger than what I was, as if I was in the movies; somebody important with people to see and places to go. I was a ROCK STAR.

And in a way, this isn't all that far from the truth.

Into the Blue
I've never seen the blue of water blend with the blue of the sky before. The horizon line blurring with great ease into nothingness. We were hovering over a Great Lake. At least, that's what I think was the body of water. There was a distant city near the water line, Detroit, perhaps. There was something about the way the buildings stood out among the rest of the dirtied landscape as if in a Pop-up book; the way each day a new page turns and something catches you by surprise.

Did we even leave?!
Upon arriving in Des Moines, Iowa, I had the strange feeling that we had not even left Bethlehem, Pa. I felt this way because we were welcomed with desolate skies and snow flurries. And even though the weather in B-town was sunny and 70 and everything glorious, when I think of my time in Bethlehem, I think of desolate skies and cold weather. It is life in the constant struggle. But that’s just me and perhaps you don’t agree. I just feel like sometimes I barely survive. Anyway, Iowa isn’t much different.  We’re about to go to practice in a little bit and then come back to the hotel to shower and get ready before going out for a team dinner. This weekend is going to be a lot of fun. So much fun and I will feel so much alive.

Stay tuned.

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Three Words: PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!! – March 13
Done and done! Time to design the ring! What a great championship game, huh? And what great champion-caliber fans! We could not have done it without you. This is as much yours as it is ours. We like to share. Sharing is nice. Twice as nice! Back-to-back. It’s not an easy thing to do, you know? It really isn’t. Don’t be fooled by our smoothness and double-digit victory over American. This was hard work and an awful lot of effort that goes all the way back to the days our sneakers first hit the hardwood at age three or five or eleven. However old we were when we first started playing. Raise your hand if it was YOU who encouraged us, inspired us, propelled us further into the world of basketball. Because we sure had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. THANK YOU to the parents, mentors, coaches, brothers and sisters, who have helped see our dreams come true. You all deserve to experience this feeling. One of accomplishment, relief, exhaustion, pride, excitement, and most of all, gratitude. Sincere gratitude to be fortunate enough for all the pawns to be in all the right places at just the right time so we could declare Checkmate and bring home another title. I’m not sure any of us will ever experience something quite like this year. This team. This championship.

IO-WHO?  Oh, ok, We’re going to Iowa. – March 15
Yes, indeed! Yes, indeed! We are going to the great state of Iowa. Isn’t that what you usually say when you’re going to a place you’ve never heard of/been to/have no idea what it’s like? Isn’t that what you say? You say it’s a great state! But really, it’s only great because you’re the ones going there. You! Are the ones that make it great! So yes, we are traveling to the great state of Iowa tomorrow morning. I hope you’re ready. We certainly are.

This week felt like an eternity. Finally, we hop on our charter plane (making moves!) and get this thing rolling! First round of the NCAA tournament. Watch out. Everyone is super excited and raring to go. I just finished packing. It’s two in the morning and I just finished packing. Mostly, because I waited until midnight to start. But I think I got everything, all of the essentials for sure. I am especially pumped for all the warm spring weather that Bethlehem is forecasted to get this weekend and all the snow flurries and 30 degree weather expected in Iowa. That’s probably what I’m looking forward to the most. That, and taking on Iowa State! We’re happy to be here but we’re not satisfied (you like that line? Thanks, so do I, it’s original) and we know we have a great chance at playing our best basketball and to do some real damage this weekend. And in the midst of all the chaos, guess what? We’re going to have some fun. We are going to soak it all in as if the sun was shining and we were getting a nice tan in 80 degree weather, and we are going to enjoy every single second of every single moment that we have together. And whatever happens, it will be the best basketball experience any of us has ever had.

I will keep you all posted on our doings and whereabouts throughout the weekend. Be sure to check back every now and then for updates! And one more thing! Special shout-out to the two-time PLT MVP Alex Ross for being accepted into grad school at the University of San Francisco where she she’ll be pursuing her Masters in Sport Management. Classes start in July. So much for summer. No, but seriously, congratulations!!

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March 2 - March on!
Regular Season Patriot League Champions! Now let’s move on.

This weekend is what we play for. This is why we play. Why we sacrifice. Why we do all the things that we do. And it’s exciting. We travel back up to Holy Cross on Friday morning and I’ll be capturing our road trip thanks to the wonderful camera provided by our sports media department. So stay tuned for the latest candid moments and thoughts and all the things that make this team what it is. It’ll be nice to document ourselves. I live through these experiences and have fun with these people every day, but to have something tangible and on record is truly a gift that lasts longer than our memories. Talk about history in the making. This is what it is. Because it’s up to us. When I think about it this way, the realization of putting our stamp on something is that much more appealing and motivating. That what we are doing, is actually pretty incredible and special. It’s easy to forget this when we’ve spent all our lives playing the same sport. All the hard work and effort we put forth into this can get lost in all the days that have started to blend together. Because even though our work has become routine and habit, the opportunity to defend our championship is far from any every day experience I will ever know. It’s important to recognize this. To solidify this moment and make it ours, a frozen piece of history.

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Endurance – February 23
Last week was a good week. We picked up the wins against Colgate and Lafayette in our final home games of the regular season. But we still have one more game to be played at Stabler.

This week we’re on the road to face Bucknell and Holy Cross. There is also suspicion of another blizzard at the end of the week, which is just fantastic. I want warm weather! Enough of this crazy snow.

You know, every year I’m always surprised by how long the season actually is. I am equally surprised by how incredibly fast it goes by. Like what?! Only two more games left in the regular season? How did that happen? I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about endurance. And how we endure some pretty crazy things as student-athletes. Most of these things cannot even be put into words; they are just felt by the people who go through the rigors of a Division One sport. I think there’s a huge difference between going through an experience and enduring an experience. Going through an experience implies exactly what it says: you went through it. Enduring an experience means you felt every single aspect of it and still survived. You made it. You made the experience what it was. You dictated how it began just as much as how it ended. And all of the ups and down in between. It means you adapted to all of the things you cannot control and focused on the things you could in order to be better. For the team to be better. It means believing despite not being sure what exactly to believe in, and recognizing that your teammates will always believe in you even if you don’t believe in yourself.  It means tomorrow will always be better. And there is always something to build upon.

Endurance, above all, means continuing. This goes hand-in-hand with patience. And faith. Believing that even though you cannot see it now, you will continue to push yourself towards something so potentially great, it will be unlike anything you could have ever imagined.

Now is the time to keep this in mind. To endure these last few weeks with a renewed sense of urgency and faith that everything we have ever worked for, will be so worth it in the end, that our words will escape us as we try to put a finger on the experience.

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Home Sweet Home! – February 16
It’s good to be back. No, really. It’s great. Being on the road last week was stressful in more ways than one. I’d rather not talk about it. We brought home the W’s and that’s all that matters.

This week we have Colgate and Lafayette at home, with Saturday’s game being both our Pink Zone and Senior Night. Not going to lie, it’s going to be weird seeing Alex out there at center court with flowers and balloons before her last guaranteed game at Stabler. It really is amazing how time flies. How you start thinking about the beginning when the end draws near. How you can relive each and every moment back in your mind and still feel every ounce of that experience in your heart. I don’t want to get all emotional right now, but this is one of those bittersweet moments. I hope we make not only Saturday night, but the final games of our season, something we will all remember as absolutely incredible.

In other news! Happy belated birthday to Aly Byorick, who celebrated her 21st birthday stuck in a hotel while the blizzard swept through Annapolis last week. You can catch a bone-chilling interview with her from the trip at Lehighsports.com!  And happy early 21st birthday to Erica Prosser, another reason why this Saturday will be pretty fun. Party at Stabler! Be there!

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Snow!
I guess you can call it a snow day. Lehigh was officially closed for the first time in five years. The Naval base was closed. Our game got pushed back until tomorrow night. Our shoot around turned into a practice. And now, here we are, snowed in at the Westin in Annapolis. All in all though, I can’t complain. I like to look at this as a snow adventure! Even though I’m snug and warm inside the hotel with a great group of people (honestly, who else would I rather be stranded with?), this recent turn of events that Mother Nature has given us is rather spectacular. We can catch up on school work and rest and sleep and television shows and blog posts. All this newfound time we have! It’s actually refreshing. A nice change of pace from the everyday routine.  I don’t mind it. Even if I can’t go sledding, I don’t mind it.

Be sure to check out the photo gallery of our trip! In the meantime, I’m going to go hit up the free hot chocolate in the lobby. And steal a handful of Hershey kisses they have too. Be safe and stay warm!  Sit by the fire and chit-chat with loved ones. Throw some snow balls. Build a snowman. Bake cookies. Read a book. Do absolutely nothing. These are the days where the world stops you from doing what you were planning on doing. Days where the world forces you to look outside in awe and say OK, you know what? This is really beautiful.

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Super! – January 7
We have super fans. Really, we do. Fans that trekked miles in the brute forces of winter and on snowy roads to get to our game last night against American. Our biggest game of the season thus far, no doubt. Fans that made posters of our faces and wore camo in honor of Tricia’s Militia. Girl scouts who wore smiles and cheered loudly, calling our numbers from the stands. Fans who have sent kind words through emails (the fan mail list is continuing to grow and I absolutely love it). Fans who, without your support, we could not be doing what we are doing. This is not just a team, but a community effort as well. Thank you!

So where does that put us? In the hunt for first place in the league. It sends us on a two game road trip to Navy on Wednesday and Army on Saturday. Two very important games promised to be a battle.

Today is Sunday. And it’s the Super Bowl. Even though I love Peyton and the Colts, I’m going to have to put my support behind the Saints. For New Orleans! Plus, their uniforms are pretty sweet.

So that’s about it. We have super fans. We’re about to go on a super road trip. And the super Saints are playing in the Super Bowl later. Amazing.

Oh, wait. One more thing that might just be more than super. Erica Prosser and fellow members of Student Athletes Leading Social Change are on a mission to fundraise enough money to send them on a trip to Africa this summer to help build schools for children there. To find out more information and how you can donate and support the cause, please check out the following link. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Be the change. Be super.

http://www.salsc.org/page/our-current-mission

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Famous - January 27

Let us never forget what we can do.

For I want to be famous in the way

The high-five is to the palm.

The extra point is famous to the arched line

A little further away from ordinary two.

A 27-0 home winning streak is famous

To those who defended it.

The point of recognition is famous to the one

Who passed you the ball and not at all famous

To the one who made the basket while

Defense is famous for winning championships.

I want us to be famous for never forgetting

What we can do. Together.

The way these years are made famous

By the ones who share this moment.

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Cheers! – January 24
Here’s to celebrating! What are we celebrating, you ask? We are celebrating two Lehigh victories this weekend over arch-rival Lafayette. As if I even have to say who our rivals are. Both the men and women took care of business both on the road and at home and in traditional Mountain Hawk fashion, disposed of the Leopards. Thank you, Football, for starting us off on the right foot.  All kidding aside, it was great to get the win on the road. It was even better to play a more complete game and start off with a lot of energy and focus and purpose of play. It was really neat to see Stabler Arena jam-packed the other night. I think more people were in attendance Saturday then were during our Patriot League Championship game last year. And that’s saying something. So kudos to everyone who came out to support the men’s team and kudos to the men for putting forth a great effort and giving us something amazing to cheer about.

In other news, Alex Ross bought a 20 gallon fish tank which sits nicely in our living room. Believe it or not, she’s done extensive research about the care and maintenance of these creatures. I would dare say she’s an expert. But it really does add something to the room. Maybe it’s the calming sound of the filter that makes me feel like I’m napping near a river when I lay on the couch. The tank holds two beautiful goldfish named Sexy Dangerous and Austin Powers. We predict them to grow between eight and 10 inches. Which would be really awesome because I’ve never seen a goldfish that big. The one I had growing up jumped out of the bowl in gravity-defying fashion.

Oh yeah, I turn 22 tomorrow. Some people say I’m getting old. I say I’m getting better. Cheers!

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On the Road – January 20
No, I am not Jack Kerouac. But I am on the road right now. Driving home from beloved Hamilton, N.Y. where we defeated Colgate in an ugly fashion. But we got the W. And I wanted to share with you a story that had actually occurred on the bus ride up. You see, our graduate assistant, Gretchen, is now student-teaching at a local school and so she could not travel with us on Tuesday night because she needed to be teaching in class on Wednesday (she drove up later that day in time for the game, of course). And even though she had told everyone that she would not be on the bus, that she’d see us at the game, I, for some reason, had dismissed this notion and still believed that she was, indeed, traveling with us. So when I texted her, asking if she could politely tell the bus driver to raise the heat on the freezing cold bus, she responded with a Are You Kidding Me Right Now!? I immediately started laughing out loud from the back rows of the vehicle. Duh. I felt like an idiot. But this was a riot. I couldn’t stop laughing. Sorry, Gretch!

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Tomorrow! Tomorrow! – January 17
Classes start tomorrow! And I can’t say that I’m all that thrilled about it. I was just starting to get used to having a lot of free time on my hands and strictly focusing on basketball. I was getting used to sleeping in until noon and having movie marathons. But as you all know, such a good thing was never meant to last. And so tomorrow marks the beginning of another challenging semester. In a lot of ways, I hope the days take their time as they pass. I hope the sun lingers a little longer in the sky and the rain and snow fall slowly into the earth. There are a few things that I wish were to pass in half-speed so I could really take in and savor the moments. Moments I spend with the team, on the court, laughing and confiding and hanging out. You can always go to class somewhere and it will always be just another class. But you can’t replace your teammates or your coaches or this experience. No matter where you go and where you end up. It won’t be just another moment. It will be different. And so here’s to enjoying everything the next few months have in store. That they pass slowly and deliberately, making sure we don’t take for granted everything they have to offer.

In other news, we’re 15-3 overall and 2-1 in Patriot League play. We knocked off Navy and Army this past week and head up to Hamilton, N.Y. to face Colgate on Wednesday. I would again like to thank everyone for their continued support and fan mail!

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Good Morning! – January 9
Humble pie is hard to swallow. As a writer, you often end up choking on your words. Regretting your sentences. Rearranging the letters in your alphabet soup. Because perhaps we should have wiped our slate clean rather than polished it and perhaps we should have stepped off the BEST EVER pedestal before American had the opportunity to shatter the glass and knock us clear off our high spot. Perhaps we should have stopped talking.

There is work to be done. Hard work. This weekend was a wake-up call. Because for the past five or six games, we’ve been hitting the Snooze button and putting off, putting off, putting off all the dirty work and little things and intangibles it takes to win and throwing them under the covers while we let our talent provide the victories. But Good Morning! Because talent, alone, will not win us another championship. It will not arrive on a silver tray from room service as we remain snuggled and cozy in our beds, our heads on fluffy white pillows. No. That will not happen. We were simply dreaming.

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Meet Me Halfway – January 6
So here we are, halfway through the season with a 13-2 record, the best ever in Lehigh women’s basketball history. Jot that down in the record books! The non-conference games were challenging but we proved to be up for the challenges, minus Vanderbilt and Princeton. But onward march! We have continued to defend our home court with vigor, defending our Christmas City Classic title to make it two years in a row as champs in December. It took a valiant effort against St. Bonaventure, winning in OT, which has been dubbed Our Time. No longer Over Time. But Our Time. Because since last year, we have won every single game played in OT. You can even make it into a mathematical equation if you want. Over Time = Our Time. If you can write a proof for it, I will be even more impressed.

New Year’s Eve was celebrated with hibachi and sushi over at Kome in the Promenade. The whole team got dolled up and went out and enjoyed each other’s company. Sophomore Emily Gratch had halted our ongoing conversations during dinner when she said, “You know, I couldn’t imagine spending New Year’s Eve with anyone else.” And we stopped when she said this. Paused a moment and let it marinate. She was right. She was absolutely right. There wasn’t a finer group of people I would have wanted to spend that evening with. Yeah, we don’t get the typical month off for winter break because of basketball. But then again, this group of young women is anything but typical. We are off-the-wall crazy and fun and loving. Competitive and outspoken. And we somehow still get along. We make it work. Both on and off the court.

So as we wipe the slate clean in honor of the New Year. No. Wait. Why start over when you can just continue? Especially something as good as what we have going on here. Let me rephrase. As we polish the slate in preparation for Patriot League play, we will continue to work hard and push each other to get better. We will fight and play for each other. And we will continue to improve, riding this wave for as long as anyone can hope.

Since my last post, I have received exactly one piece of fan mail. Not that I was expecting a full inbox or system overload or anything. Thank you to everyone for your continued support!

Here’s a Thought! – December 13
It occurred to me that I should probably also talk about basketball on this blog. Apologies for getting sidetracked in the past. But yes! We are off to a great start! 7-2 going into the chaos of finals and then two more games before our Christmas break (five days off is a lot and that is something to be very merry about!) Then we return to Stabler for our annual Christmas City Classic before wrapping up the year (get it, ‘wrapping’ up, like a present). It’s hard to hear the crickets when you write, but I’ll imagine you all laughing anyway. Either that or you’re a tough crowd, tough crowd.

I think at this point last year our record was 6-3 so we’re already pushing forward thus far. And we all know what happened last year so this gets us even more excited. We’ve been defending our home court like champs! (We can also fist pump like champs! Courtesy of MTV’s new show The Jersey Shore, which, as a Jersey Shore native, I must stomp my foot angrily at the Bennies from N.Y. who come and trash our land in the summer because that is NOT how it really is, let me assure you. Although I think I do sport the poof pretty well at times). Anyway! 21-0 on our home court is pretty awesome! That’s earned us a top-five national ranking for home win streaks ::insert fist pump::

So all in all, it’s been a great start and we’re eager to keep the momentum well on into the New Year. I think one of the keys to our success has been improved communication both on and off the floor, which has steam-rolled into building more trust in each other and in ourselves. We’re taking pride in what it means to wear that Lehigh jersey (the new dry-fit uniforms also might have something to do with our success).

Before I leave, I’d just like to give a shout-out and huge thanks to all of the alumni who were in attendance on December 5^th.  It was really great to see everyone, meet everyone, share stories and where-have-you-beens? And the like. I hope this network will grow and develop over time as past players become intertwined (like a net; you know, the one we cut down last year) and relationships are formed and taken advantage of whether it be for friendships or jobs or both! Regardless, it was great to have your support!

Is anyone out there listening to good music? I’m looking for some new tunes and am desperate for suggestions! I also wish there was a place for people to comment! However, here’s my email: kad210@lehigh.edu Send away! I’m not joking. Thanks!

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Knock, Knock! – December 11
We were downstairs making food. She had buttered noodles while I made eggs. We sat down and watched ESPNews because SportsCenter wasn’t on. The latest woman in the Tiger Woods saga apparently made an appearance on the Today Show this morning claiming that the only thing she got out of the whole ordeal was a “broken heart.” Yes, you have our deepest sympathy. She finished eating and went upstairs to her room. I went into the kitchen and threw my dishes in the sink. I hear an agonizing yell from two stories up.

“Diiiiiiiz!”

”What?”

“I locked myself out of my room.” I imagined the sad look upon her face and laughed.

“What!” I chuckled to myself first but then felt this was far too funny not to share so I bellowed up to her.

“Shut up.”

I ran up the stairs saying, “Don’t worry! I just so happen to be an expert locksmith!”

After about 10 minutes of trying to pick the lock with two paper clips, I confessed, “I really have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.” Alex looked at me and laughed while I wondered if I really even fooled her in the first place.

But pretending to be an expert in such a spy, badass kind of way was actually very thrilling. Like the way you build forts among blankets and furniture when you’re little. Or how you pretend to be secret agents and climb all over the place, trying not to be seen by the enemy, which of course, are your parents.

We Googled and YouTubed how to pick a lock and became very educated in such a short amount of time. We even found a wire hanger in our roommate’s room. I found a long-lost pocket knife that didn’t actually help us but I was glad to have found because it’s really pretty awesome. But after all of this, we still failed miserably. She sat in the middle of the hallway looking defeated at the foot of her door. She took a sip of coffee from the mug she brought upstairs with her and I laughed, taking a mental picture in my mind, knowing this was a scene that I probably wouldn’t see again.

“Call Kim (our landlord),” I suggested.

“Ugh.”

Kim said she would send over a maintenance man, but never specified when this man would arrive to unlock the door. So we moseyed on downstairs and took bets as to when he would show up.

“I say an hour,” I said.

She huffed and stared at me.

“But! If I’m being optimistic, I’d say 20 minutes.”

As soon as I said these words, there was a knock at the door.

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Back from the south - November 15
Greetings. I write this to you from the clouds. But rest assured, the nighttime view is nothing spectacular. Just blackness sprinkled by a few lights on the ground. I just finished reading Donald Miller’s new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and he talks about story and life. And how the elements of a good story are eerily similar, if not identical, to that of a good life. Essentially, he argues that a good story is one in which a character wants something and overcomes conflict to get it. Those are the basic elements. If you can do that, show that, you’ll have a good story.

Having said that, I was thinking about our story this weekend in Tennessee. There was so much laughter and giddiness, I cannot even tell you. And I love that. Because it makes me feel young. And for all you older readers, I know that it seems silly to call myself old at the age of 21. But there’s something about laughter that says hey, be a kid again, even if only for this brief moment. Exchanging Blackberry PIN numbers with Coach Troyan was a pretty monumental kid moment for those of us on the team who owns a Blackberry and was now fortunate enough to PING! And send messages.

More specifically, I had made the mistake of calling Coach Troyan by her first name, Sue. And so for a good portion of Thursday, I was having a hard time living that down. Until about 11:30pm when KI, Dentler and myself were in the lobby and Coach Troyan surprisingly asks us for our PIN numbers because, you know, she wanted to be hip and with it and BBM people. By the end of the night, I think she had more contacts that I do. She was very hip. And very with it. And so as we all entered the elevator, only to depart to our respected floors, I had sent her a message that said HI COACH!!! I wanted/needed to redeem myself and put emphasis on COACH. The three of us had gotten off on the fourth floor and while she remained on the elevator and headed down to the second level, I receive a BBM that said, “This is Susan!!”

We were rolling with laughter. On the ground.  In the hallway of the hotel. Hysterical. I know trying to explain this story is not doing any justice to what had actually happened, but you’ll just have to take my word for it. Because it really is unfortunate that not more people shared our joyous laughter at that particular moment in time.

Saturday afternoon was glorious in every sense of the world. We were welcomed into the home of Alex’s Aunt and Uncle and let me tell you, it was quite the house. I loved how open the living room was, leading right into the kitchen where there was more than enough delicious Southern food to fill our bellies. THANK YOU for sharing your home, your hospitality and your hearts to us! It meant a great deal and we are all very appreciative!

Now, let’s talk about our story on the court. Friday night was opening night and we were ready. We knew this and it showed in our 20 point victory over Lipscomb. It was a great team effort all around, lead by a tremendous performance from Erica Prosser (27 points) and Alexa Williams (13 pts, 15 boards). This was the first scene of many scenes to be had this season.

Earlier this afternoon, scene two took place at Vanderbilt. The arena reminded me of a theatre and felt like we were actually playing on a stage. It was a neat experience to test ourselves against an SEC opponent, but by the end of the game, we regretted not having taken advantage of this opportunity a little more. But of course, we will take a lot of good things from the loss. Things we can learn from and grow from. Things that will help us to tell our story come practice again on Tuesday. Where we will be that much more motivated to get after it. To push ourselves to be better. And when scene #3 arrives on Wednesday evening, we’ll be ready.

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Reminders – November 11
It was brought to my attention that I have been slacking with the updates. So apologies to all! Since my last blog post, lots has happened. For one, I got the flu (it was neither confirmed nor denied that it was swine, excuse me, the H1N1 virus; it takes weeks to verify but I was told there was a very good chance I had it). So I had that going for me. November 1 came and went and I’m not sure if my teammates ever got their free Frosties at Wendy’s. I have keratitis which is a fancy word for inflamed corneas due to contact lens irritation, which causes the obviously annoying blurred vision symptom. And finally, a very peculiar thing had happened: I almost forgot what it was like to laugh.

Let me explain with a little anecdote. During the summer, I had visited one of my former teammates, Kaela Pearce, in her hometown in North Carolina. And whenever we’re around each other, we laugh. A lot. So naturally, we were laughing at nothing in particular when all of a sudden I made the statement, “I hope not a day goes by where I forget what this feels like.” She was confused and asked what I meant. So I told her, “Well, I just don’t want to wake up one day and not be funny anymore. To not know how to laugh.”

And so during the past few weeks, I got a little sidetracked and lost focus. It seems like a silly thing to say, but sometimes you need to make a conscious effort to have fun. Because there was a stretch of days where I felt miserable. And it showed in everything that I did. Yesterday, I made a revelation. I realized, in a moment of clarity, that I forgot what it was like to laugh. How in the world could that happen?! It seems impossible, right? I thought so too. But sometimes, it actually takes hard work and effort to have fun. So the past few days, I had made a determined decision to have fun, relax, breathe, and let the giggles flow. To find the joy and laughter in everything and everyone. And you know what? I’m not afraid to say that this monumental breakthrough was life-changing.

Having said all that, I have the giggles as I attempt to pack for our Tennessee trip! We leave at 8:30 am tomorrow for our flight out of Philly and return late Sunday night. Our first game of the season has finally arrived! Friday night at 7:30 we take on Lipscomb and Sunday afternoon we face SEC powerhouse, Vanderbilt. I can’t express my excitement. All I can say is that I should be studying right now for a Media and Society test that Alex and I have to take while in Tenn., but that I can’t stop finding every excuse to procrastinate and laugh and get excited and antsy for our trip. Because I’ve laughed more in the past five days than I have since before the swine flu took hold of me. And rest assured, it is the most invigorating, revitalizing medicine out there. Some people even say it’s the best.

Oh yeah and one more thing, does anyone know what the Yankees mascot is? Not the owner, the mascot. Oh that’s right, it’s the World Series Trophy (thank you, Jimmy, for reminding me).

Tennessee, here we come!!

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Party in the USA! – October 21
It was approximately 11:00 in the morning. I was awake. Sitting at my desk. Checking emails. Logging internship hours. Scanning lines of poetry. The door to my room was shut, but I could hear my roomie and fellow teammate, Alex Ross, walk up the stairs to the beloved third floor, which our two rooms share. I could hear her jingle her keys in the hallway as she unlocked the door to her room. Usually, I would be jamming out to some music, but like I said, I was scanning lines of poetry and had to count the feet within the lines of iambic pentameter (in other words, I had to count the beats and get a feel for the rhythm) so there was no music. I needed to concentrate.

Within ten minutes, my beats and rhythms were being overtaken by the ones vibrating through our walls. The ones that were from electric guitars and drums. The ones that were unmistakably from Miley Cyrus’s hit new song, Party in the USA! “This is all so crazy…” Yes, I agreed. But then burst out laughing. Because I didn’t think that Alex knew that I was even in my room. And so, of course I texted her (instead of walking the 20 feet down the hallway to tell her in person) and asked her if she was really jamming out to Miley Cyrus right now. “Of course. I keep this jam on repeat! You’ll hear it again in about two minutes,” she responded.

And I did.

And it was louder.

And I laughed again just as hard.

So later in the day, when we lifted after our practice and Alex, who is almost always in charge of the music in the weight room, decided to blast this song AGAIN, I was not in the least bit surprised. Instead, I had my hands up! She was playing my song!  I was nodding my head like Yeah! Moving my hips like Yeah!  I looked around and saw the rest of my teammates doing the same. It was a Party!

Who Owns the New York Yankees? – October 21
While watching Game 4 of the ALCS between the Yankees and the Angels, fellow teammate Ryan Ingalls (The Baller) made the comment that rap star Jay-Z is the owner of the New York Yankees. As a devoted, but not obnoxious Yankee fan, I knew that this was clearly false. Everybody knows George Steinbrenner owns the Yankees. Hellooo! But I Googled it anyway, only to find, well, nothing. Because Jay-Z does NOT own the Yankees. Therefore it makes perfectly good sense why Google would not show any results for such a search. When I did type in Steinbrenner’s name, however, there was a plethora of websites to choose from. Interesting…

After a bit of a heated debate, in which the facts remained facts and I presented them clearly, the Yankees scored yet again in the top of the ninth, making the score 10-1. Something like that. Then, to spite all of the people in the room (they despise the Yankees) I made a brave declaration. “You know what?! I’m going to go out and buy a Yankee hat tomorrow and wear it ALL THE TIME.”

I got numerous threats of hat stomping and burning and I could go on but you don’t want to know. The point is this: the Yankees have a lot of money because they win. Most winning team in MLB history. In the best city in the country. The haters need to find more legit reasons to hate. Even if it is spitting out false information about the owner. You can’t tell me that if we were the most winning team in all of NCAA women’s basketball history, that we wouldn’t have the best facilities (by the way, Jeff, the new court is AMAZING!) or state-of-the-art EVERYTHING! Recruiting? Forget about it! Who wouldn’t want to play for us? And you know what? We’d probably even have a nice little parade cruising through this little town of Bethlehem.

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Save the Date! – October 11
It was a little after 10:00 pm and I received a phone call from one of our freshman, Kelly. “Hello,” I say. “Hey, Diz, where are you?”

“Um, I’m at my house. Where are you?”

“ME TOO!” she excitedly yelled and as she did so, I could hear the laughter and giggles from the others who were with her.

Why are these crazy kids at my house? I thought. I went downstairs, rather intrigued, and let them in. They were so full of energy at this hour; I wondered how much caffeine was flowing through their bloodstream. Then I rested on the idea that they are young and I am old. Their wide eyes and bright smiles were contagious though, and their surprise appearance at my doorstep made my night. Kelela Blake, Marybeth Egan, Sarah Pearce and Kelly Peterson were the jokers who decided to play Ding Dong Ditch, only to realize that the doorbell to Studio 462 (my off-campus apartment) does not actually work. Hence the phone call.

But their efforts were not out of trickery, but instead, out of treats! They intended on leaving me a tasty and delicious Wendy’s Frosty on my front step after ringing the doorbell and hiding in the bushes. However! To their utter disappointment, the coupon for Frosty’s does not begin until November 1. Save the date, they told me. They’ll be back.

I couldn’t help but laugh at their sheer enjoyment. And the fact that they were incredibly disappointed they have to wait three weeks to execute their plan. But seeing them at that hour on a Sunday night really did make my night. They went out of their way to make me laugh and just say hey. And I’m really glad they did because otherwise it would have been just another ordinary Sunday where I stay up late trying to write poems for my creative writing class.

Speaking of important dates, this FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16th, marks our official start to the 2009-2010 season! If I could express my excitement more, I would. Actually, I could if I added a million exclamation points, but I’ll spare you the eye pain and you’ll just have to believe me. October 22 marks our first official OFF day of the season as well! Something I’m sure we will all be equally excited for once we start. Not to mention, Halloween! And in the holiday spirits we will celebrate with our first SCRIMMAGE on the 31st! And then guess what! The very next day, we can get free Frosty’s at Wendy’s!

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Fun in the Run! – October 4
This morning, my brother and I participated in the 18th Annual Literacy Network 5K run in Madison! I convinced him to do the run with me when I was first planning on visiting him and I must say, I am very glad we ran. Neither of us had done anything like this before so it was really neat to be lined up on State Street, in the crowd of a thousand people, and hear the gun shot go off. We started off slow, getting stuck behind a lot of people. “Hey, let’s see how far up we can get,” I tell him. And before we knew it, we were passing people and with each passing person, the more confident we became, the more fun we had, and the more we wanted to pass more people! It really was a race. And it was the most fun I had running in a long time. Those 24s are a close second. But it was great! We ran a 7:52 pace and I’m sure my brother could have run a lot faster but didn’t want to totally smoke me. We ran for a great cause, which raised $30,000 on the day, and got to run throughout the heart of Madison, down State Street and along the lake next to the University of Wisconsin. There’s something really special about being a part of something larger than yourself, whether it’s running for a good cause or being a part of a great team.

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Hello from Detroit! – October 3
It’s that time of year again-the time where you are absolutely ready to go on vacation. Or perhaps, even graduate. It’s that time where you are tired of classes. You’ve been on a steady hydration of coffee and all products that have caffeine in them. Exams and practices are wearing you thin, everything is getting on your nerves, and all you want to do is sleep for days and days. Hello, Pacing Break, won’t you welcome me with open arms!

I write to you from Detroit, Michigan! You know, the city that’s making a comeback! But I couldn’t really tell you because I’m just stuck in the airport. Stellar Allentown airport decided to leave a half hour later while Detroit decided to direct my plane to fly in circles for an hour. Thus, I missed my connecting flight to Madison, Wisconsin, where I am visiting my brother and his girlfriend for a few days. This is the second time that I have missed my connecting flight to Madison; the first was during the summer when Chicago decided to keep us on the plane, at the gate, for two hours. Needless to say, and I am not ashamed to say it, frustration and weariness got the better of me and I started crying on the airplane, 30,000 feet in the air. Good thing I had a window seat and pretended to be in awe from the amazing view of the blanket of clouds. Because I tried not to let the woman next to me, the woman who did not speak nor understand English, see my breakdown. Because you don’t need to know English to understand that a fellow human being is upset. The last thing I wanted was to be stuck in an airport all Pacing Break. After all, this was supposed to be a break, and I just couldn’t seem to be catching one.

However! I decided to see if I could fly into Milwaukee instead of Madison because we have plans to check out this restaurant called The Safe House, where you can’t get in unless you know the password. I wish I knew more top-secret information about this seemingly cool place, but I don’t. There’s also the Milwaukee Film Festival going on this weekend, and maybe if I get there sometime soon, we’ll still be able to check that out. Detroit slowly began redeeming itself when my wish was their command! And within a few minutes (surprise, surprise) I was awarded a free lunch voucher and a 5:40pm flight to Milwaukee. FIRST CLASS! I’ve never flown first class before! And maybe it’s nothing new to some people, but I am relishing this moment, maybe if just to say that Oh yeah, first class? I’ve done that before. No. Big. Deal. One day, I’ll say that, but right now it’s kind of a big deal to me.

In the meantime, I’m going to scan the terminal for a little snack, maybe a coffee beverage, even though I’m trying to break my recent addiction. And I should also tell you that an airplane pilot just walked by wearing a hot pink tie in the spirit of October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. That’s cool.

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Goose bumps – September 26
It was the first time I had been in the team room since last season, but the starting line-up from our Patriot League championship game was still written on the whiteboard. That’s really cool, I thought. That it had gone untouched for so long. I plopped down on the leather couch and put my feet up on the pillow, waiting for them to arrive so we could watch the highlight film from last year. This weekend is a big recruiting weekend for us so Courtney Dentler, the coaches and myself were giving a little tour of Stabler. Well, they were anyways. I jumped at the chance to see the highlights again.

I get goose bumps every time. Every. Single. Time. I’m not sure if it’s the images or the music or the remembered emotion that does it for me (Kudos to Katie Matis aka Hoosier Daddy for producing an amazing DVD). It’s only been a few months since I had lived the moments I was now watching. And something was different. There was something different about watching the film this time that was unlike any other time I had watched it. It seemed so long ago. I don’t want to admit this, but I almost forgot what it felt like.

As I sat there, I watched myself and my teammates through new eyes. Eyes that began to water. I quickly tried to wipe the tears away with the sleeve of my jacket (sort of like the proper swine flu coughing technique), hoping that no one else in the dark room would notice. I didn’t realize it then, because nobody ever realizes it at the moment, but fourteen individuals will always have one thing in common for the rest of their lives. Oh yeah, we did that. That was fun!  Let’s do it again!

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The Number 24. – September 21
Right now, I very much dislike the number 24. I could probably give you 24 reasons for why I dislike the number so much, including that it’s not as good as the number 25, which is what I sport on my jersey. But the most important reason is because of what our on-court conditioning consisted of this afternoon: twenty-four 24s, each within twenty-four seconds. Let me explain the sprint sequence. One 24 is down and back, down and back. We did those twenty-four times and had to get each rep in twenty-four seconds time. The only number that I slightly, SLIGHTLY like a little bit better is the number 30. And that was how long our rest was between each rep. Not to mention, we had already ran two sets of 100s prior to this 24 challenge. And I have 100 reasons why I very much dislike 100s, but that’s neither here nor there.

When asked how we felt after we successfully completed the run, one of our fifth-year seniors, Tricia Smith, responded, “Like champions!” I can’t speak for the rest of the team, but that was one of the more miserable on-courts we’ve ever done. Yet we apparently killed it. There was not a dry spot on our workout gear, but we killed it.

But the point of this entry isn’t to first express my dislike for this particular drill and then toot our own horn about how we successfully completed it. No. The point of this entry lies in Tricia’s comment. Because today was the first time our team had walked into Stabler Arena since last year (lovin’ the new floor, by the way). And today was the first time our returning players had the chance to remember that the last time we were in Stabler, confetti was falling on our heads. We were running towards each other in grand hysterics, finally dog-piling near center court. We were laughing. Some were crying. We were yelling! We were in disbelief that our beliefs all season had finally formulated into a reality. That we were living our dream. That was the last time we were in Stabler. We were champions. And I’m still going to know what that feels like 24 years from now. That alone, is reason enough to not dislike our on-court conditioning AS MUCH as I originally let on.

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Happy Birthday!  - September 20
To Ryan Ingalls! Aka Baller. She turns 22 today! Quite young for a fifth-year senior. Especially when KI: the Truth aka Kristen Iafolla, also turns 22 next week. And KI is only a junior. So happy early birthday to her as well!

And since this is a basketball blog, I would like to change gears now and talk about softball. Because I live with two softball players. This past weekend, I had asked them to go for a nice little run with me. An easy four miles. Nothing dramatic. And after no consideration whatsoever, they politely declined, explaining that they have a game the next day and didn’t want to be exhausted for it. “But your game is tomorrow!” I reasoned. But apparently being outside for five hours is strenuous. Enjoying the beautiful weather and sunshine and breeze. Throwing a ball here. Hitting a ball there. Chowing down on sunflower seeds. Getting tan. It’s a tough life those softball players have, they reasoned back. And so I trotted along all by my lonesome.

But I just had to laugh today when they arrived home from their games and within a half hour they had left again. Where to, you might ask? They went for a nice little run. And here I was, almost convinced that five hours outside, surrounded by wonderful people and amazing scenery, would have them doubled over in fatigue and exhaustion…

Love to Lehigh Softball. You girls make me laugh. J And jealous that we don’t have as many rings as you do.

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Killin’ It! – September 14
That seems to have become our motto thus far during workouts. Especially during conditioning workouts. Whether it’s pocket-to-chinning it (proper running form) up an incredibly steep inclined hill or running laps around a track, there seems to be a sense of adventure in the air. A silent sense of adventure. Because all of us seem to wear (very cleverly and very naturally) poker faces. Collectively, we do not show a lot of emotion. So it’s throwing our coaches off a bit. It’s throwing our lifting and conditioning trainers off as well. There has been a great emphasis on being vocal and people filling in that role. A role that our seniors last year pulled off effortlessly. And loudly. But it makes me smile when this year’s team understands the need to be vocal, but understands that results are far more important. So when we’re killin’ it and breaking times and increasing lifts but don’t seem to be quite thrilled about it, believe me, we are. But we’re also remaining very humble. There is a sense of purpose that we all understand but don’t let on. Which, I admit, can be confusing and might even seem to be a cause for concern. However, if we weren’t breaking times and giving an effort across the board that has gone unmatched since I’ve been here, then I’d hit the panic button. But for now, I’ll take the silent assassin approach our team has unknowingly adopted. Because there’s something thrilling about adventure. About being challenged. About rising to that challenge. And killin’ it.

As I say goodbye for now, I’m going to leave you with a quote from Chris McCandless, the man who adventured into the wilderness of Alaska. The man from Into The Wild. His death was tragic but the writing they found in letters and in his notebooks is incredibly valuable. And since we’re talking about adventure, I think he points out some things rather nicely.

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” –Chris McCandless, April 1992