Niners in España: Second Update

VALÈNCIA, Spain — The trek across the Iberian Peninsula for the Charlotte women’s basketball team continued over the weekend and into the start of its second week.

 

Since the last Lady 49ers update…

 

Saturday:

A morning full of culture and history opened the day. A long stroll through Madrid led to the world-famous Prado Museum, widely-considered a “Top 3” art museum in the world. Thousands of works of art, including several masterpieces, by the links of Rembrant, Rubens, Goya and Raphael among others hung on the walls of the three-story marble-adorned building.

After the Prado visit, free time was given to finish exploration of Madrid but most took advantage of the time to do more shopping.

By dinner time, the group reformed with dressy clothes to walk to dinner then attend a Flamenco show. At the Flamenco show, the 49ers were treated to traditional Spanish music, dancing and performance. A great way to end a great visit to Madrid!

 

Sunday:

The Niners were up and about early, hopping back on the bus for a long drive to València. Passing orange groves along the highway, the team arrived safely in the city along the Mediterranean Sea by lunch time. A short walk to the restaurant for lunch led into a bus ride down to the beach. Everyone was given two hours to enjoy Playa de la Malvarrosa. The waters of the Mediterranean were quite pleasant and the temperature was mild to combine for a beautiful day at the beach.

Dinner was at their own discretion and then it was back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

 

Monday:

A non-structured morning, other than rising for breakfast, was welcomed by all to continue to refresh. 

By lunch time, the travel party was split into several smaller groups for a scavenger hunt around the city. Each team was tasked with finding different clues, taking a variety of photos and following a map around the city. The last stop was where everyone met prior to walking over to the restaurant where pre-game meal was served. The winning group consisted of Cara Consuegra, JP Josetti, Joanne Aluka-White, Jen Winningham, Laia Raventós, Octavia Jett-Wilson and Rinnah Green.

Then, it was time for game No. 2.

 

Game recap:

Charlotte jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back, in a dominating 81-34 victory over Combinado Valenciano Monday evening with associate head coach Joanne Aluka-White manning the helm. The 49ers held the Spanish squad scoreless until the 6:56 mark of the first quarter on their way to a 22-6 edge through the opening period. By halftime, it was 44-16 in the Niners’ favor and the lead swelled to 61-24 with 10 minutes remaining.
Redshirt junior Jade Phillips led the way with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. She hit 7-of-12 shots from the field and collected 11 of her boards on the defensive glass. Sophomore Octavia Jett-Wilson added 15 points, while redshirt sophomore Christian Hithe chipped in 11 points. Senior Laia Raventós poured in 10 points, while classmate Ka’Neeshia Brown added eight points to go along with her eight caroms.
Junior Lauren Harley and Hithe each grabbed six offensive rebounds among their nine and eight, respectively, on the glass.
Raventós paced the squad with four assists and freshman Jada McMillian swiped a team-high three steals. Sophomore Mariah Linney and the freshman duo of Rinnah Green and Madison Moore each posted two blocked shots to lead the 49ers.
Overall, Charlotte had 20 assists on its 34-of-84 (40.5 percent) shooting performance, including 5-of-17 from behind the arc.

 

Up next:

Charlotte will continue to work its way up along the Eastern coast to the city of Barcelona with a long drive Tuesday. The final city stop of the tour will feature many more excursions and chances to learn more history and culture. One more game also is on the docket.