UCLA Women's Basketball: Bruins Taking First Overseas Preseason Trip In 7 Years
Your 2023-24 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team is heading abroad prior to the start of the official season.
Per a press statement on UCLA Athletics' official site, the program will head to Senegal and Germany to play three exhibition contests between August 20th-31st this month. As the presser notes, this will mark the club's first jaunt abroad since a 2016 sojourn down under to Australia.
"It is an incredible opportunity to represent UCLA with this trip to Senegal and Germany," UCLA women's basketball head coach Cori Close said. "It is education in three dimensions; the basketball will be a privilege, but our most important work on the hardwood will be done in training camp."
"Once we are overseas, it is about representing our university in a quality manner, serving others, enlarging our hearts and broadening our minds through opportunities for cultural learning," Close said. "This promises to be a transformational experience for every one of us. We are humbled and grateful for this opportunity!"
Complete Sports Management CEO Lea Miller-Tooley helped set up the adventure.
"A historic trip, this marks the first time in program history that UCLA will be in Senegal," Miller-Tooley said.
In Senegal, the UCLA team will play the Senegalese national team at NBA Academy Africa. In Germany, it will square off against TS Jahn München, former club of UCLA sophomore forward Emily Bessoir, and another pro team, Alba Berlin.