Sept. 4, 2003

STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford women's basketball team opened up practice on Wednesday, September 3 in preparation for its five-game, 12-day exhibition tour of Italy later this month.

The Cardinal will practice daily from Sept. 3-11, and will depart for Italy on the night of the 11th. While in Italy, the Cardinal will play exhibition games against Italian professional teams in Rome, Viterbo, S. Giovanni ValDarno, Vicenza and Castiglione Dello Stiviere.

Stanford, which finished the 2002-03 season ranked ninth in the nation by the Associated Press, returns all five starters and 11 letterwinners from last year's 27-5 squad that won both the Pac-10 regular season and tournament championships. The Cardinal opens the 2003-04 regular season at Pepperdine on Friday, November 21.

Here is the team's practice schedule and game schedule for the Italian tour:

Practices

Wednesday, September 3: Ford Center, 2-5 p.m.

Thursday, September 4: Ford Center, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 5-8 p.m.

Friday, September 5: Ford Center, 1-4 p.m.

Saturday, September 6: Ford Center, 1-4 p.m.

Sunday, September 7: Ford Center, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

Monday, September 8: Maples Pavilion, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Tuesday, September 9: Maples Pavilion, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Wednesday, September 10: Maples Pavilion, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Thursday, September 11: Maples Pavilion, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Games

Saturday, September 13: vs. S. Raffaele BBC (Division 2A) @ Rome

Sunday, September 14: vs. Gescom Viterbo (Division 1A) @ Viterbo

Tuesday, September 16: vs. S. Giovanni Valdarno BBC (Division 2B) @ S. Giovanni ValDarno

Thursday, September 18: vs. A.S. Vicenza (Division 1A) @ Vicenza

Sunday, September 21: vs. Basket Montigarda (Division 2A) @ Castiglione Dello Stiviere