The following is a blog from Wildcat senior Paige Ballinger on Day 3 (Wednesday) of her experience in Brazil representing USA D-2 Women's Basketball.  Wednesday night, Team USA improved to 2-0 with a hard-fought 70-59 win over Osasco.  The team traveled over four hours and have arrived in Rio de Janeiro where they will enjoy sites like Copacabana Beach, Christ the Statue and a train ride to Corcovado Mountain on Friday.  Team USA resumes play on Saturday at 10 a.m. Brazil time vs. Mangueira.

Day 3: by Paige Ballinger
 
Wow what an amazing day. 
 
Started off the morning waking up around 9:30 to get some breakfast with the teammates. Breakfast was very tasty but a little different. There was an assortment of different buns. Very tasty. 
 
After breakfast we had about 4 hours to just relax, and take a nap. Which I took full advantage of. We then were packing up our bags and meeting everyone down stairs for lunch. Lunch was pretty normal. Chicken, rice and beans.  There was quail eggs in with some fruit so a few of us decided to try it. I took a little nibble, to say the least I will never eat it again. Lol 
 
After lunch we loaded the bus and we were off to our next stop. It was such a beautiful ride. It's amazing how different the trees are here. About an hour and a half later we arrived to the gym to play our 2nd game. As we were walking in I could tell that this wasn't going to be easy. They were tall and looked very athletic. We ended up winning the game! We had to compete and come back from some big mistakes. It was an awesome game. 
 
After the game we exchanged t-shirts with most of all the players. It was such an amazing opportunity. 
 
I am beyond blessed. Basketball has given me so many opportunities despite going through some tough times, this game is amazing. But I know it is so much more than "just a game".