SAN JUAN, P.R. — The Millersville women's basketball team had a unique opportunity over the most recent Thanksgiving week, as the group traveled down to Puerto Rico to take on two local teams and experience the area's culture and history. The Marauders were successful on all fronts, as they won both contests handily and bonded as a team while exploring the area off the court.
 
A second half margin of 41-9 led the Marauders to a 77-29 victory over local foe Catholic (P.R.) on Nov. 26 in their first game action outside of the continental United States. Every player appeared in the contest and four reached double figures. Leading the charge was a trio of Marauders: senior Brenna Ortwein and freshmen Aniya Eberhart and Kelly Cleaver. Ortwein tallied 10 points on just four shots and nabbed two of the team's four total steals. Eberhart had 11 points and grabbed six boards with an astonishing plus/minus of +36. Cleaver bested her teammate with a team-high +40 while shooting 6-of-7 from the field for 12 points and snagging seven rebounds.
 
Away from the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, head coach Kira Mowen said the Marauders engaged in many activites as a team. One of the highlights of the trip was an excursion to Old San Juan.  It's one of the oldest cities in the territory and contains the 500-year-old Castillo San Felipe del Morro; El Morro is a military fort that the team explored before shopping and eating a meal together. Another highlight of the trip was when the Marauders went open water snorkeling in the Caribbean together. The snorkeling adventure was especially memorable, Mowen explained.
 
"I think the team bonding in itself was pretty memorable," Mowen explained. "Seeing the players actually snorkeling in the open water, some of which can swim, some of which really have no idea how to swim and just watching them throw a life vest on, that was something that I'll take with me."
 
Another thing that Mowen identified was the games themselves. The second match came against UPR Río Piedras on Nov. 27 and was a much closer affair. It was again a second-half onslaught that gave the visitors a 68-49 victory; Millersville entered the half up four thanks to the scoring efforts of Juliana Vinluan, Makiah Shaw and Bryn Zentner, who combined for 21 of the team's 27 points. After the break and strong encouragement from Mowen, the Marauders refocused and took the final two quarters by a combined 15 points. Zentner finished with a team-high 12 points while Shaw followed with 11.
 
After the games had finished, the Marauders celebrated with a Thanksgiving meal on Friday, Nov. 29. Mowen said that she was thankful for the opportunity and the time the team was able to spend together.
 
"On our Thanksgiving day, we had our team meal and went around the table saying what we each were thankful for," Mowen detailed.  "My exact thing in addition to my family and the team itself was the fact that Millersville allowed us to go on the trip. We were blessed and thankful for the opportunity to go down there, put Millersville on the map in a way, and get two good wins in. (…) Between the administration allowing us to go, our donors supporting us, and our players doing a wonderful job of raising money to get themselves there, I'm extremely thankful for all of it."

A PDF box score and more for the game against Catholic (P.R.) can be found by clicking here. A PDF box score and more for the contest against UPR Río Piedras can be found by clicking here.