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LOS ANGELES – The UCLA women's basketball program will travel to Australia from Aug. 18-29, playing four games over the course of a 12-day tour to Brisbane, Cairns and Sydney.
The Bruins will play the Southern Districts Lady Spartans on Sunday, Aug. 21, at Rowland Cowan Stadium in Carina, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia at 1:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. on Saturday in Los Angeles). UCLA's second game will be versus the Cairns Dolphins on Tuesday, Aug. 23, at the Cairns Basketball Stadium in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m. local time (2:00 a.m. on Tuesday in Los Angeles).
The third game will be against the Sydney Uni Flames (WNBL) on Friday Aug. 26 at Brydens Stadium in Darlington, New South Wales, Australia at 7:00 p.m. local time (2:00 a.m. on Friday in Los Angeles). UCLA's final game will be against the Sydney Comets on Saturday, Aug. 27 at the Alexandria Basketball Stadium in Alexandria, New South Wales, Australia. The contest is slated to tip at 8:00 p.m. local time (3:00 a.m. on Saturday in Los Angeles).
"This is truly a once in a lifetime experience," UCLA head coach Cori Close said. "I'm so grateful to our donors who made this happen. This is cultural, team building, service, adventure, and education in 3D primarily. Then there are great basketball opportunities to get to know this particular UCLA team, try new schemes, and integrate the new players. I am so grateful we can provide this opportunity to our spectacular student athletes."
The cities in which UCLA will visit observe Australian Eastern Standard Time, which is 17 hours ahead of the Pacific Time Zone in the United States.
In addition to playing four basketball games, UCLA's student-athletes, coaches and support staff will have the chance to experience several cultural opportunities while on tour. Some of the excursions the Bruins will take include a tour to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary which includes kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, koalas and heaps of birdlife. A trip to the Kuranda Rainforest will also provide an opportunity for community outreach and basketball clinic at Djarragun College Senior School. The Bruins will also take a tour of the Great Barrier Reef. While in Sydney, the Bruins have an opportunity to tour the Opera House, Manly Beach, Darling Harbour and the Harbour Bridge.
UCLA's most recent offseason foreign tour took place in August 2011 when the Bruins visited Italy.
Regular updates of the women's basketball team's travels in Australia will be provided on uclabruins.com, as well as the team's social media channels listed above. Videos, photos and recaps will be available from each game and plenty of excursion photos and videos of each outing will also be shared.