The Eastern Michigan University women’s basketball team had a plane to catch Tuesday, taking its talents to the island of Oahu to participate in the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Eagles (1-1) begin play at 8 p.m EST Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center against Oregon State (1-0).
Senior guard Sydney Huntley-Rogers is excited for the trip.
“It’s good to see different competition this time of year, and this is a good relaxer to start the season off,” Huntley-Rogers said.
The Eagles are scheduled to play Oregon State, California State University-Northridge and the University of Hawaii at Manoa this weekend. This will be EMU’s second trip to Hawaii, having traveled to Hawaii back in 2005.
This trip will also have a special place for one of the Eagles. Senior guard Cassie Schrock is a point shy in reaching 1,000 points for her career; only 15 players at EMU have accomplished this feat. Huntley-Rogers is confident that Schrock will achieve this milestone in the first game in the tournament.
“We are excited for her,” Huntley-Rogers said. “Knowing her, she might not even know she needs just one more point. She just plays, but as teammates we will make sure she gets the point. All she really needs is a free throw.”
Associate head coach LaTonya Tate praises her senior guard, saying Schrock is the glue of their team.
“She is the one kid our staff didn’t recruit out of high school,” Tate said. “But she means everything to our program. She is our point guard, but can play the two or three.” Tate says Schrock brings her IQ, toughness and leadership to the team.
The time change will be a factor to take into consideration for EMU this weekend. There is a five-hour time difference from Ypsilanti to Honolulu.
“The coaches are prepared,” Tate said.
The team was scheduled to stay in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, and traveled to Hawaii Wednesday to help ease into the time change.
“Well, the other teams will have a time change to worry about, but not as much as ours,” Tate said. “However, once our girls step on the court Saturday they should be ready to play. We are scheduled to return on the red-eye Sunday, so that will be a harder transition for our girls.” This will be the hardest part for the team; the transition of coming back to Ypsilanti. Huntley-Rogers isn’t too concerned about the time change.
“It wouldn’t be too hard; we’ve traveled in different time zones before,” Huntley-Rogers said. “Once it comes down to playing, we won’t be wrapped up on where we are.”
The Eagles are coming off a 74-62 loss against the seventh-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday. They continue play in Ypsilanti, at 5:30 p.m., Nov. 26, against Cornell at the Convocation Center.
