The Lincoln University women’s 3X3 basketball side were scoring a few three pointers off the court after their huge effort at the recent tertiary world cup in China, helping to initiate a new relationship with a prominent Chinese university for Lincoln.
Manager Hoani Smith arranged a meeting for Lincoln staff with the Vice-Chancellor of the tournament host university, Huaqiao University, and next year a Memorandum of Understanding to cement the relationship between the institutions will be signed.
Huaqiao University has 28,000 students on campus, and was set up for students of overseas Chinese backgrounds, such as from Hong Kong and Singapore to pursue tertiary education. It is also very strong in basketball.
The team also went to the New Zealand Embassy for lunch and a tour of the building.
Manager Hoani Smith said embassy staff were well aware of Lincoln being in China to compete “as one of our support crew was emailing them to keep them updated”, and were very welcoming.
Lincoln University came 10th overall in the tournament, showing improvement over their previous efforts. In 2018 they were 12th and 2017 finished 14th. In 2019, they also scored their first win beating the University of Taipei 16-13 in pool play.
Hoani said another off the court highlight, due to Lincoln University qualifying for three years in a row, was Lincoln captain Connie Poletti being asked to represent all the female athletes in the media conference, a first for an Oceania athlete.
He said preparation for the next 3X3 world cup campaign starts in December, with new players coming into selection consideration as Connie graduates.