WBK | Catching Up With The Gaels And Stella Beck
12/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MORAGA, Calif. – The Saint Mary's women's basketball team continues to improve each game and is off to an impressive 6-1 start having played teams from the ACC, Big-12 and PAC-12. Fresh off her first go-around of Finals Week, freshman Stella Beck recently took time to catch us up on life as a Gael.
Q-How was your first Finals Week experience?
BECK - I finished finals on Tuesday (a final paper) and Monday I had two finals. The weekend was pretty busy for me. I'm glad I got them done early and am enjoying some time to relax. It was a little less stressful than I thought it would be. I had two papers and two finals… opposed to having four finals. I was able to get the papers done earlier than I had expected. I think it was a good, not super-hard, first semester. But it was different than what I'm used to… it gave me time to adapt.
Q- What are your thoughts so far of the Gaels, seven games into the year?
BECK - The team has been playing very well. We are getting better every game. We are playing very well as a team and I think it shows how unselfish we all are. I love being a part of this team, I love the program and the system we have. The girls are so good at making everyone feel welcome and fit in right away.
Q- Compare the College game to what you experienced in New Zealand?
BECK - The college game is a lot tougher here compared to New Zealand. There is a lot more consistency with good players all around… everyone is very good at the fundamentals. Competition at home is good but there is not as much money meaning it's just a lot different. Basketball wise it's the same, but the individual fundamentals and skills is a lot better over here.
Q- Is there an aspect of your game you are working on?
BECK - I shoot every day with coach Lisa (O'Meara). Shooting is definitely an area I'm working on improving. Obviously I'd like to become a better shooter and working every day with Lisa, I'm seeing the improvements.
Q- This week begins three consecutive road trips for SMC. Any early thoughts on the trips coming up?
BECK - Obviously it's a lot tougher to win on the road, but I think the road games will be a good team bonding experience. We get closer off campus. We've done one road trip together so far, but we also had our team-building Tahoe trip. I loved Lake Tahoe. It gave me a home type feeling because we did a lot of outdoor things. We went on a big hike up a hill and it was beautiful up there, took lots of pictures, played games, went to the Lake, played volleyball… it was so fun. Really nice to be outdoors, something different with the entire team.
Q- Talk about what makes the Gaels successful.
BECK - Off the court we are close to each other. There are no cliques and no drama. We even have a quote in the locker room about no drama. I think what makes us successful on the court, is that we have a good team off the court. We don't have conflicts and there are no divides. We work in sync and work together very well.
Q- During a game, how important is the bench as a group.
BECK - The bench is absolutely important in the game. We need everyone on the team to win a game. The bench players do very well encouraging us. There are times during the game where our bench tells us our player is behind us or has moved… just another level of communication that helps us on the court. Our bench does such a great job of encouragement, giving high fives… if you're upset coming off the floor, our bench is there to pick us up and give encouragement.
Q- Do you have any Christmas plans?
BECK - I have family over in Washington DC. I'm going to stay with them for Christmas after our Virginia/George Washington roadtrip. It's my dad's family, his aunt, mom, sister… I'm really excited to see them as it has been a few years. It's going to be nice having some family around as I miss them quite a lot. It's going to be different because I've never had a cold Christmas before. Usually its summer at home so that will be cool.
Saint Mary's will not play at home again until the calendar changes to 2015. SMC plays at Fresno State (Dec. 12), at Cal Poly (Dec. 14) this week. The Gaels will play at Virginia (Dec. 19) and at George Washington (Dec. 21) in their final games before conference.
Family, fans and friends can catch the Gaels for their WCC openers on the road at Santa Clara (Dec. 27) and San Francisco (Dec. 29).
For live stats and live video links, always check the latest updates on SMCGaels.com.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballThursday, March 05
Saturday, February 28
Friday, February 27
Saturday, February 21
