Ezell Wraps Up Trip with U.S. Jones Cup Team

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State junior guard Heather Ezell just wrapped up her trip to Taipei, Taiwan, traveling with the U.S. Jones Cup Team. The team went 4-2 in the tournament and won the bronze medal. After dropping its first two contests, the U.S. squad won their final four games. Ezell has kept a diary at cyclones.com and this is her final entry. She has included photos of her trip in the photo album above.

My final thoughts....

Well finally I am back in the States and aside from being both physically and emotionally drained I am excited to be home. The past 18 days have been some of the best days I have ever experienced. From the first day of practice to our final goodbyes in the airport, I enjoyed every minute of it. I actually already miss my teammates, which turned into some really good friendships.

We finished up the tournament on Tuesday playing against the Chinese Taipei White. We started the game off strong and then let them make a huge run in the third quarter. In the end we pulled out the win. I ended the game with eight points, but most importantly ended the game with a bronze medal around my neck. After the game they had a medal ceremony and presented medals, we received third, Chinese Taipei Blue received second and Australia won the tournament.

After that we had free time to do whatever we wanted. Most of the team went back to the markets to shop, but me and a couple of other girls just wanted to walk around the streets close to the hotel. There wasn't much going on, but it was fun to just "people watch" and see what things were like outside the hotel.

We left our hotel on Wednesday morning at 6:30 a.m. and headed to the Taipei airport. Our flight left from there around 9 and it took us to Tokyo. At Tokyo there were four different flights everyone was on to get back to the States. I had the flight to Chicago, which was the longest flight of the four. There were four other players on the flight with me, so I wasn't alone. The flight to Chicago was about 13 hours, and this time I actually slept almost the whole time. I arrived in Chicago around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and practically spent an entire day in O'Hare. Weather delayed my flight, which was supposed to leave around 8:30 p.m. It didn't leave until almost 1 a.m. So after almost 36 hours of travel, I made it back to Ames by 4 a.m. worn out and tired, but mainly excited to be home.

Looking back on my trip it was one of the best decisions I ever made and I do not regret any of it. Not only did I learn and enjoy a new culture, but I gained vital experience in both basketball and my faith. The players and coaches on the team will be part of my life forever.

I would like to take this time to thank everyone who supported me and the team. If it wasn't for people like you, this experience would have never been possible for me. I am truly blessed to play at Iowa State and be surrounded with fans like all of you!!

Thanks again for reading and hopefully you enjoy some of my pictures!

Take care and Go Cyclones!

Heather Ezell