Some great ball by the Great Wall

China revelation for Emmanuel

The Forbidden City was among the sights taken in by the Emmanual College women's basketball team on its Chinese tour - "a big learning experience," said senior Jade Paez. (Photo courtesy of Emmanuel College)

Andy Yosinoff and the Emmanuel women's basketball team stared at their opponent in a packed gym filled with 1,500 eager fans in Guangzhou, China. They knew they were playing the Jinli company-sponsored all-star team.

But nobody told them the Jinli team was a men's team.

"That last game was definitely the most interesting part of the trip," said Yosinoff, in his 31st year as coach of the Saints. "The entire crowd was initially polite and quiet, and as that game went on, they were surprised at how competitive it was."

So surprised, in fact, that the crowd turned its loyalties from the hometown team to the women from Boston as the game ended tied, 87-87.

Yosinoff, who is just 18 shy of 600 career victories after last night's 92-65 decision over Albertus Magnus, took his team across the world in hopes of showing the players a different culture and getting a couple of exhibition wins against the best China had to offer. In the end, the Saints came back with a loss, two ties - there's no overtime in international competition - and countless memories.

"It was a big learning experience for me and my team because we learned different values and beliefs and got to see a whole different culture we learn about in our history books," said senior tricaptain Jade Paez.

Molly Honan, director of marketing and communications at Emmanuel, spent 10 years helping plan this trip, which gave the women's basketball team the experience of a lifetime.

"Prior to going on the trip, the academic department set up classes geared toward the team to educate them on the history and culture of the country," Honan explained. "We saw it both as an opportunity to participate in some high-level games, and also as a great educational and global experience for the students."

When the Saints (8-4), who finished 29-2 and reached the Division 3 Sweet 16 last season, weren't competing against Beijing University, Beijing Sports University, or the Jinli all-stars in a whirlwind eight-day trip during Christmas break, they were facing some different challenges - such as climbing a 4,000-mile-long international monument.

"The best part of the trip was climbing the Great Wall of China as a team," said senior forward Jacquelyn Pannell. "Seeing all the hard work that went into the Great Wall . . . it was ridiculous."

Yosinoff added, "We went to a factory and saw assembly line [workers] that make $250 a month. It gave my players a much better perspective on how lucky they are to be in the US. It's a lesson they'll have for the rest of their lives."

Well, that plus a new perspective on how to play against an international offensive style.

"I think it carried over to my own team, in the way we're passing the ball and the way we're moving the ball without so many extra dribbles," said Yosinoff, who also noticed an immediate difference in his players' confidence.

Listen up, Red Sox: Maybe going abroad isn't the worst way to start a season.

"My team is just fired up," Yosinoff said. "The whole trip just gave us so much more energy . . . it was well worth it."

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