KNOXVILLE – Virtually a new team led by a new coach.
What better way for the University of Tennessee women’s basketball program to bond than a 10-day trip to Europe?
The Lady Volunteers left Sunday for their trip to the Netherlands, Belgium and France, where they will play three games while trying to break in a number of new players whoeither weren’t on the roster last year or weren’t able to play. In addition, it’s the unofficial debut of new head coach Kellie Harper, who replaced Holly Warlick in April.
Tennessee’s first game is on Aug. 8 in the Netherlands. While overseas, the Lady Vols will visit the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum, the Zaanse Schans, Amsterdam canal boats and Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands and take tours of the cities of Ghent and Bruges in Belgium and visits to the beaches of Normandy, the Louvre, Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower and River Seine in France.
Harper’s first team will have six new faces and will be replacing four of the top six scorers from last season’s 19-12 roster. Guard Meme Jackson and forward Cheridene Green graduated, while sophomore guard Evina Westbrook transferred to Connecticut and forward Mimi Collins went to Maryland.