By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
Just before Christmas, the FHSU women’s basketball team got to participate in the Big Island Holiday Classic in Hawaii. This unusual trip was an excellent experience for the team, who in addition to winning two basketball games, got to travel the island in their free time.
For a team from Kansas, it isn’t common to travel to places where they have to deal with significant time zone differences. However, Hawaii is four hours behind Kansas time, and the players had to adjust to the change before playing.
Head Coach Talia Kahrs said the team was able to adjust and keep the jet lag at bay.
“We landed there Monday evening, and we didn’t play until Thursday, and so we went to bed pretty early, actually, the first few nights, just to kind of get make sure we’re getting enough sleep, and by that third night we kind of had adjusted a little bit,” she said. “I think we were still going to bed pretty early, so a six o’clock game was still pretty late for us, but we did a good job of adjusting.”
The Tigers had two impressive wins: a 77-57 win over Truman St. in their first game and a 63-50 win over Quincy in their second game. Besides the wins, the team was able to enjoy the island with various activities, such as going to the beach, kayaking, and a trip to see the volcanos. This was a bonding experience that might help them throughout the last stretch of the season.
Olivia Hollenbeck said it was a great experience for her and the team.
“Having those two wins before Christmas was awesome; we did so many fun things. We’re such a close team, so it was just like a fun trip together,” Hollenbeck said. “And I don’t think that will stop either. We all hang out all the time, and we’re best friends, and I think that’s one of my favorite things about this team.”
Kahrs also spoke about the importance of that trip for the team’s bonding.
“There’s lots and lots of time together, and they’re just a great group for girls, so they’re just having good conversations the whole time. Everybody was in a great mood the whole time. So that makes it a lot easier,” she said. “I think our last trip back from Missouri Western involved getting stuck in the hotel for two days because of the snow. I think that was also a good bonding time. The girls did a good job of staying positive in that moment.”
The Tigers have been impressive so far, with a 14-2 overall mark and a 5-2 record in the MIAA. While FHSU split their homestand last week, losing to Missouri Western State and defeating Northwest Missouri State, Kahrs has an optimistic mindset going forward into the two road games they will be playing this weekend.
“I obviously was disappointed in our loss on Thursday. [It] felt like we didn’t play our best [and] it felt like, defensively, we were super engaged, and then we lost. But, the way that we bounced back,” Kahrs said. “I think Saturday was huge, and I gained a lot of confidence again, going into this week against two teams that maybe haven’t won as many games. But those are also then a little scary because you want to make sure you do win, and then going on the road, which is always different than playing at home.”
The Tigers play Rogers State (7-10, 1-7) tonight and Central Oklahoma (4-13, 3-5) on Saturday and while both are indeed teams from the bottom of the MIAA table, the Tigers will have to be as focused as they can to secure the necessary wins on the road. Kahrs continued to highlight the importance of securing wins on the road.
“In the last couple of years, something that we’ve done really well, even if we’ve lost a few games in conference, we’ve lost two teams in the top half. We’ve done a really good job of not losing games in the bottom half of the conference,” she said. “Going into this week, these two teams are sitting in the bottom half so we’re just really focused on not losing to teams that we shouldn’t lose to.”
Going on a two-game stretch in two days on the road is no easy task; the players must eat well, rest well, and recover, all while traveling between different towns. The team left on Wednesday afternoon, making a pit stop for food in Tulsa before arriving in Claremore where the team ate supper and then watched film at the hotel.
Kahrs outlined the rest of the preparation process for gameday.
“We have a shootaround at Rogers at their gym for about an hour and the we go back [to the hotel]. Usually the girls take a nap and then we do our pre-game meal and head to the game,” she said. “After our game, we’re really focused on recovery because there is not a lot of time in between. So we’re ice bathing, we’re making sure we’re drinking some protein, trying to get our bodies recovered as best as we can, and we’re getting some good food in our bodies.”
According to Kahrs, on Friday the team will leave in the morning and travel to Edmond, eat lunch and then practice.
“The next day, we won’t get up and shoot around or do anything; we just go to the gym for the game,” she said.
The Tigers fell out of the national top 25 media poll this week while keeping a spot on the coaches’ national top 25 poll at No. 11. For Kahrs, those polls are just opinions about her team, which she disregards, saying they are less important than focusing on winning basketball games.
FHSU plays Rogers State tonight at 5:30 and will play Central Oklahoma at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.