My Championship Experience - Women's Basketball Edition

My Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships. 

IUPUI sophomore Nevena Markovic's championship experience at the 2013 Summit League Women's Basketball Championship:

DAY 1

Day one at The Summit League Tournament started with us getting up at 7:30 a.m. to drive to the bus so that we could go to the Indianapolis Airport. Our first flight was at 10:30 a.m. connecting in Chicago. When we got to Chicago, we had a pretty big delay, so we went to get food and then couple of us walked around the airport because we were bored and didn’t have much else to do. After few hours of waiting in Chicago, it was time for us to board our

IUPUI's Nevena Markovic

airplane to head to Sioux Falls. The airplane was on the small side for us tall people but we managed to make it comfortable. 

When we arrived in Sioux Falls, our host was waiting for us, as well as our bus. The bus took us to the Holiday Inn, which was the hotel we were staying at. As soon as we got to the hotel we had to get ready and head to practice. We practiced at a high school for about an hour and half and went back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. We went to Granite City for dinner which was really good. After that, since Kerah (Nelson) made a half-court shot at practice, we got to get dessert - for our dessert we got Orange Leaf, which is a frozen yogurt place. 

To conclude our already busy day, we went bowling. I was one of the captains for the bowling teams. My team included Nicole Rogers, Clara Mitchell, Sara the athletic trainer, Coach Barlow, and Demetria Nunley-Lash. We ended up tying for second place - Coach P’s (Parkinson) team came in first place. When we returned to the hotel my roommate, who was Nicole, went down to the game room and played some pool in the player’s lounge, which concluded day one in Sioux Falls.

DAY 2

Day two started off with getting up around 9’ish to get down stairs to eat breakfast. After breakfast we had a film session and headed to practice. This time we practiced at Augustana College for about hour and half again. After practice, we got lunch from Panera and had some down time to just relax. So a couple of us went down stairs and hung out in the game room. The popular game down there was pool, so we ended playing that quite often. After all the pool playing, we had a choice between going to the movies or staying and relaxing until dinner time. Half of the team decided to stay back – I went with the other half of the team to see the movie Snitch, which I thought was a great movie. After Snitch, the bus went to get the rest of the team so we could head to dinner at Olive Garden. When we got back to the hotel we had a film session over Kansas City stuff before the game the next day. That night we had early curfew because it was game day the next day. 

DAY 3

Day three was game day against Kansas City. We had shoot around at around 8:30 a.m. for about half an hour and then headed back to the hotel. We had some down time before pre-game meal so I took a nap. After the pre-game meal, I went back to my room and just relaxed until it was time to start getting ready for the game. My pre-game included getting treatment from the athletic trainer, getting taped and watching a little of the game that was before ours. We headed to Sioux Falls Arena around 1 p.m. On the bus before the game I like to listen to music to just get me ready for the game and get my mind off things so I could be focused. 

After the victory over Kansas City, we headed back and showered so that we could return and catch the men’s game against South Dakota State. At half time of the men’s game, we left to go to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, which has the best rolls ever. When we returned from dinner, again a few of us went down to the game room where a lot of teams where hanging out and having fun. 

DAY 4

Day four at Sioux Falls was my birthday. It was a great birthday present to be practicing and preparing to play in the semifinals of the tournament. When we got up, we had breakfast and then headed up to Augustana College for practice. Practice was pretty easy considering we played the day before. After practice we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch where Coach Barlow told waiter that it was my birthday so the whole restaurant found out and I got free brownie cake. 

As we were in Buffalo Wild Wings, the Western Illinois/Fort Wayne game went to overtime and looked very intense so we quickly headed to the arena to catch the end of it. The game went to double OT and IPFW pulled out a win. After that game was over, the game we came to watch, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, was played. We stayed for the first half and then headed back to the hotel and the coaches stayed back to scout. When we got back, a couple of us stayed downstairs to finish watching the rest of the game. 

After the game ended, we went to get dinner at Champps - the Champps wasn’t like the ones here, but it was still pretty good. Afterward, it was time to focus on the scout and the game plan the coaches had for us. We watched filmed, and then we walked through their plays and headed to our rooms for the night. 

Editor’s Note: IUPUI lost to South Dakota in the semifinals on Day 5.

Don’t forget to check out the next edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Men’s and Women's Golf Championships, April 22-24, and throughout the 2012-13 season for coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.