Hi everyone,

Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. I'm now back at Connecticut after my visit home to New Zealand.

UConn are 15 games into the season and still haven’t lost a game so it’s been a pretty good season so far.

Last season we made the final four, but this year we’re expected to go better and win the Championship. We’re the number one team and we have the players and coach to do it. This is the perfect year for it and I hope it all falls into place.

It’s been hard for me to sit and watch from the sidelines when all I want to do is get on the court, but I’m still enjoying it. It’s great to be part of this team and the amazing coaching staff. I know it’s all going to be worth it. It has been really good experience and I’m going to grow from it.

Training is very tough but you know you’re getting the best coaching. The girls play to a high level but we all stick together and we get through it. To come out the other end with a National Championship will make all the hard work worth it.

It’s a pretty hectic training schedule during the season. We train for two to three hours a day and do weights on every second day. Then we usually play a couple of games and get one day off in the week.

An interesting part to being at UConn is the media attention the players get here. It’s such a big deal and I guess you just have to get used to it. When you’re part of a high profile school and part of a high profile team you’ve got to expect it.

We have Media Days every Friday and once a month we have signing days when we have to sign a metre-high stack of posters and photographs. You also get fans hanging around the locker room after games wanting you to sign stuff so you’re in the spotlight quite a bit, but we are also well looked after.

The photo shoots at the beginning of the season were lots of fun. The girls don’t take it too seriously and just get on with it and enjoy themselves.

The whole thing feels pretty similar to the media attention you get at the Olympics so I'm glad I had some preparation for it.

That's all for now. I’ll let you know how the rest of the season goes for UConn.
J-Mac