Alverno coach Brad Duckworth, sophomore Alicia Kontowski and Centenary junior guard Kristen Camuso represented the USA on a 10-day, four-game tour of Italy. The tour was organized by American International Sports Tours.
The first game of the tour was an exhibition game played near Florence, Italy on Thursday, May 28, against a B1 level team where the American team fell 84-80.
�This was our first experience with international play. The physical style surprised us a little,� Duckworth said.
&&g-boxr&&Two days later near Venice the American team got things moving in the right direction with a 71-47 victory, led by Kontowski�s game-high 21 points, in the first of the friendly competition games.
�Alicia played great and our team really figured out how to match the intensity and play of the Italians. Once we had our first win we knew that we could handle ourselves,� Duckworth said.
�Playing in Italy was extremely different than playing in the U.S.,� said Camuso. �They have so many different rules so it took a little while to get used to things, for example there are only 24 seconds on the shot clock, the paint is a different shape and rules for traveling are also different.
On June 1, the team traveled to San Marino for the semifinal game facing another B1 level team. The American team rolled to a 72-59 victory. Kontowski continued her hot shooting pouring in 15, including three three-pointers.
With only five players available for the third game, five Italian players joined the squad to play a B1 team. Camuso finished with seven as her team pulled out the victory. The final contest of the trip came against an all-star lineup of the A2 and B1 Italian teams.
�Our team really came out inspired to win this thing. It was a great 6 minutes of basketball but then the length of the week and tired legs hit us for a while,� Duckworth said. �We talked at halftime about finding a way to push through it.�
After a back and forth third quarter the American team found itself down three with two minutes to play in the game. Following a timeout the American team, which also included former Susquehanna guard Ashley Polcovich and Baptist Bible's Holly Walton, was boosted by a layup by Camuso, the 2009 NCAA Division III leader in 3-point field goals per game.
Trailing by one the American team created a turnover that led to Camuso getting fouled. Camuso went 2-for-2 at the foul line to put the team up one.
Needing another big defensive series the American team once again came up with a stop as Kontowski snatched a defensive rebound with seven seconds remaining. She was immediately fouled and went 1-for-2 from the line to increase the lead to two. The 40-foot last second attempt by the Italian team fell short as the American team won 86-84. Kontowski finished with nine points in the final.
"I got to see and experience things I never thought I'd get to see," Camuso said, "and if anyone gets a chance to play overseas as I did I would highly recommend it.�