Tuesday, July 17
Lawrence Helps Team USA to Bronze Medal at William Jones Cup
Game 6 Recap - USA 83, Chinese Taipei-A 72
Monday, July 16
Game 5 Recap - USA 81, New Zealand 60
Monday, July 16
Dear GW Women's Basketball Fans,
Once again I am bringing you good news from Taiwan. On Saturday we beat Korea, which beat the Taipei team we lost in our first game. The game went very well and everyone contributed. The plan basically was to stop their two inside players, who were the center of their team, and we did that. We won pretty handily - I'm not sure the exact score though.
Sunday was our day off from basketball, which gave us a chance to tour the city. The best part of the day was in the morning when we went to an orphanage and visited with the children, toddlers and young boys there. I played basketball with the 10-to-14 year-old boys and learned the Chinese words for "shoot" and "defense." The boys were great, but the babies were too cute! We got to hold and play with them. The little boy I was holding was fascinated with the little stars and moons hanging from the ceiling, so I held him up so he could touch them. The children were so happy to be getting attention and love from us, but really they touched our hearts.
Before we left we all prayed with them and for them.
After we visited the orphanage, we headed to Taipei 101, the world's tallest building! We ate at the food court, shopped in the shopping center and rode the world's fastest elevator all the way to the top of the building. You could see the whole city of Taipei. It was amazing.
After Taipei 101, we went to the Taipei Zoo and saw all the different animals Taiwan has to offer. When we got back to the hotel, we had Bible study and finally got to rest for our game against New Zealand on Monday.
Today, we played New Zealand and beat them easily. They are a good team, but they had injured players and were tired from playing five games-in-a-row. I played well and was interviewed on the ESPN station here. I barely could understand what the reporter was saying, but it worked out. When I went to the press room there were translators who translated questions and answers for the media and the players and coaches. Since we won today we will be battling tomorrow against Taipei White for the bronze medal. It looks like Australia will get the gold medal, Taipei Blue will get silver, and hopefully the U.S. will get the bronze.
After the game against New Zealand, we scheduled dinner at T.G.I. Friday's to mingle with the New Zealand team. It was a little weird eating dinner with them after we had just beaten them, but it was fun and exciting to meet new people from a different country. I learned that rugby is the big sport there and the native people, of which there are only a few left, are called "Maoris." The New Zealand team was very nice and eager to meet and talk to us, and we will maybe even go to the market (shopping) with them tomorrow. I am having so much fun here, but I can't wait to come home. Just one more game tomorrow!
Sarah-Jo Lawrence
Saturday, July 14
Game 4 Recap - USA 94, Korea 68
Friday, July 13
Game 3 Recap - USA 114, Japan 72
Friday, July 13
Dear GW Women's Basketball Fans,
It's been awhile since I submitted my last entry, but things have been so busy since I arrived in Taipei, Taiwan about three days ago. On Wednesday we played the Chinese Taipei B team, a veteran team, who we lost to 70-63. The Taiwan team was very efficient. They made the right cuts at the right time and made most of the shots they took. Despite not playing well the first half, we only gave up 25 points in the second half and came within four points with a minute left, but couldn't seal the deal.
On Thursday we played the Australian National Team and lost badly. Their team, made up of professional players, was getting ready for the world championships - they were VERY good! Every player was taller that 6-feet, including their 6-6 center and Coach Schaeffer said there were four or five Olympians on the team! They were extremely physical, more physical than I have ever experienced in the U.S., and they were very well organized. Our team, however, struggled to find offense even though we held them to 72 points whereas the night before they scored 122 against Japan.
Today (Friday), we finally got our first win against Japan. We had no trouble scoring as we scored 114 points and won by better than thirty. Japan's style of play was nothing like I've ever seen before. They run around and shoot three pointers - even contested ones - and hope that they make it! Chasing them around everywhere was so tiring, but they were the nicest, most respectful team we've seen yet. They bowed to us to show respect, helped us up when we were on the ground, and even hung out with us after the game! We danced, laughed, and tried to figure out what each other was saying while taking tons of pictures. The Japanese girls were a lot of fun.
Over here, people take pictures of us like we're superstars just because we're American! After the game, we took pictures with some Taiwanese fans who made an American flag on cardboard and were cheering for us. Everyone is so nice and we are making sure to be open to everyone and all the other cultures we interact with daily. The experience here is great because we're getting so much out of it. We have Bible study sessions every day, we get to interact with people from all over the world, and we get to do what we love best - play basketball. While we're 1-2 right now, we're still in contention for the silver medal. Since Taiwan B and Australia, the two teams we lost to, are arguably two of the best teams here, if we win the rest of our games (which is very possible and likely), we can still do well. Please keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers as we represent the U.S.! Thanks for reading J! (I love you and miss you mommy!)
Sarah-Jo Lawrence
Thursday, July 12
Game 2 Recap - Australia 70, USA 40
Wednesday, July 11
Game 1 Recap - Chinese Taipei (B) 70, USA 63
Saturday, July 7
Dear GW Women's Basketball Fans,
I just finished training camp in Texas and it was nothing short of brutal! We had two-a-days on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Our day started out around 8-8:30 a.m., and we would either practice at 9:30 or have team time. Team time is where everyone tells their "life stories" and uses props, pictures, or anything else to help share themselves and their lives with the team. Team time was always fun, learning about my teammates, but practice was so intense. We would go two-to-three hours in the mornings and two hours in the evenings doing various drills - shell drill, shooting drills, 5-on-5 working on our plays. Our head coach, Texas A&M assistant Vic Schaeffer, is extremely energetic and demanding. And similar to Coach McKeown, he is all about DEFENSE!! We do a majority of defensive drills, the hardest being 1-on-1 in the lane in which the defender has to cut the dribbler off while they are zig-zagging down the court. Coach Schaffer makes us do this up and down the court multiple times and we must go full speed and not get beat!
We had a scrimmage against the Texas A&M practice players on Thursday evening and did OK. I personally didn't play too well, but I made up for it at our scrimmage today. We ended up winning the scrimmage today against the guys and my team and I did very well.
As far as the team goes, we are very close. Every day we have Bible study and learn new things about God and how we should be as Christians. Our goals in Taiwan are to witness to as many players, staff, or people of Taiwan we can about Jesus and his love, as well as to bring back the Gold Medal for the US!!!! We pray before practice and team time and while we are on our 12-hour plane ride to Taiwan, we will write our testimonies about our lives and how we came to know Jesus Christ.
I absolutely love it here and have met so many wonderful people from different schools, including Baylor, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Colorado and, of course, Texas A&M. I'm so proud to be representing GW here, it has really been a blessing!
Anyway, we are leaving for Taiwan from Houston in the morning and it will take us 18 hours to get there, including a 12-hour flight from San Fransisco to Tokyo! I'm so excited to finally get going and to have a few days off. Pray for me and the rest of your US Jones Cup team that we may be safe and bring back that Gold!!!!
Sarah-Jo Lawrence
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