HOUSTON – The HBU women's basketball team departed Friday for a two-week tour of Australia leading up to the beginning of the fall semester.
"We have planned this trip for a couple of years, because we knew this team would be the youngest we ever had with eight freshmen, six sophomores and only one senior – we need all the experience we can get!" said HBU head coach
Donna Finnie.
"We are all so excited about this trip, not only because we get to visit a country none of us – except Lauren (Calver) – has ever seen, but also because we know what a huge privilege this is," captain and sophomore guard
Bria Johnson said. "We are so thankful to our coaches and to HBU for supporting us to make this happen."
The Huskies will arrive in Syndey, Australia, on Sunday morning and will have to get quickly acclimated before their first game Monday night. Freshman forward
Lauren Calver, a native of Helensburgh, Australia, will be returning home after spending the spring semester at HBU.
"Preparing this summer has shown us where our major weaknesses are and how we can address those," Finnie said. "The games in Australia will not only allow our freshmen to run our system early, but help us get used to playing together with eight new faces.
HBU will play six games over 11 days:
Monday, Aug. 15 vs. Hornsby Spiders
Wednesday, Aug. 17 vs. Penrith Panthers
Friday, Aug. 19 vs. Illawarra Hawks
Monday, Aug. 22 vs. Ringwood Hawks
Tuesday, Aug. 23 vs. Melbourne Boomers
Thursday, Aug. 25 vs. Hunter Valley All Stars
"I'm excited by the addition of so many perimeter threats this year.
Sophie Taylor and
Belle Tovar have show in the last 10 days that they have deep range, even off the dribble, and Lisa (Zderadicka), Amanda (Johnson), Bria and Heidi (Byrd) have all been shooting the ball very well.
Shannon Jones,
Sydney Carr and Britta Daub have given us better size in the guard spots and can all get to the rim very well in transition and step out to shoot the three.
Brooklyn Moore is possibly one of our most improved returners. She's attacking the glass, has become more consistent with her perimeter shooting and we like what we see from her in the high post in particular.
Taylor Kollmorgen and
Lauren Calver give us added size inside but also run the floor well. Charlotte (Hodges) looks like she's close to being back to the form (following an injury) she showed coming in, which is exciting, as she possesses such a high basketball IQ and can score in so many ways. Although young, Kennedy (Collins) and Nika (
Veronika Kirienko) are showing huge promise in the paint and have developed tremendously this summer.
The team will arrive back in Houston on Sunday, Aug. 28, with fall classes starting the following day. The Huskies are slated to open the 2016-17 campaign at Baylor Friday, Nov. 18 in Waco.
