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Women's Basketball

Q&A with Christina Dalce

UMTERPS.COM SAT DOWN WITH CHRISTINA DALCE TO GET TO KNOW HER ON AND OFF THE COURT

Question: What made you start playing basketball?

CD: I started playing basketball because of my competitive nature. In middle school, I joined the team and without, like any prior practice or whatnot, and we lost every single game, and I balled, like you would have thought that the world was ending the way that I was crying. So then my mom was like, yeah, like, let's actually do this. We found this flyer that was given to us years back, and she's like, how about you doing a sport?  She was like, if I signed you up for this and I paid for it, you have to stay in it.  

Who's been the most influential person in your life? 

CD: I would definitely say my mom, my sisters, for sure, they and my dad said, like, they're all very hard working people. I'm very, a very big believer in God as well, that he gave me this opportunity to be here and to perform at this stage, at this level. And if you asked me about like, six plus years ago, if I was gonna be here, I'd be like, no way, like I'm actually gonna be one of those people on TV, like playing with one of the best coaches in the nation. But definitely them, they showed me what it takes to work hard and to be dedicated. And they're all very successful people, so I just want to be like them.
 
What has been the most memorable experience of your career so far?

CD: At my previous school, I broke the single season record for the most shots blocked. And then this previous season, I was No. 1 in block shots by like, a landslide, and mind you, like, having blocks is, like, averaging, like two blocks vs.a block is like a lot. Those were very memorable pieces managing to accomplish those at the end of the season. And it's because I take such pride in defense, and defense is really what got me to really play basketball, because I was so aggressive and because my offensive game wasn't there. It was like, well, don't let them score on you. If you can't score on them, don't let them score on you. But having those being able to accomplish that, especially like in a Power 6 league like that was really big for me.  
 
Do you have any pre game rituals?

CD: I definitely don't take naps. I know that's a very common thing, but I learned that taking naps is not a good setup for me, and I always just listen to music, but it's not like a specific song or whatnot. It's really based off how I'm feeling. But I also try to keep a lot mindset. So depending on who we're playing, whether it could be like the best team in the conference or the worst team in the conference, I try to keep a stable mind. I know I'm not the one to on the court, yeah, but like, in the locker room, I'm not the one to really smile. I'm not the one to like, I'm like, locked in, headphones, in and all that. 

What's the best piece of advice you ever received?

CD: That there's always tomorrow, and like, based on that, it's more so not being hard on myself or because I didn't accomplish something today, and not to be hard on myself, because I didn't accomplish it yesterday. There's always tomorrow to accomplish that, and because everybody knows, like anybody who knows me knows I'm very hard on myself. So it's always like, okay, the day is over. Well, we'll get back at it tomorrow. We will do it again. We'll get better at it. So I think that was definitely one, um, and like to not just to not be hard myself. A lot of coaches tell me that, because they see me beat myself up and they're like, why? You're here for a reason. So don't, don't beat yourself up over something that could be fixed. 

What's your intended major and dream job?

CD: So my intended major is business. I'm trying to apply for the business school entering the spring season, and I want to do marketing. And if possible analytics as well, and then I wanted to work with the sports team or a sports brand and their marketing piece or analytics piece, not like so much, like the social media I would do that, do the social media, but more so like the logistics behind the marketing. Like, how much sales are we bringing? Like, how much sales do we need to give out and the analytics a piece of how the players are operating, because now analytics is being used to monitor health, to monitor how players can get better. So just try to kind of be behind the scenes of that as well. So either or.

Why did you choose Maryland? 

CD: I felt like all the arrows were pointing to Maryland. My sister graduated from here. She lives nearby, so I have family, my friends are here that I knew from high school, from middle school, even at my old college, that they transferred here. So I already had them as, like, a little base before I even knew the connections and the team was great. They're literally, like, my people, like, even just thinking about it, like, I've talked to everybody on the team, serious conversations, funny conversations. I know, we haven't even played a single game yet, but this is probably the best team environment that I've ever been in. This was the closest school to me that I actually liked. I'm able to bring my car on campus. I can go back home to see my friends. Still do events nearby, like being close to DC and being close to Baltimore, which are very powerhouse cities in the nation, just always having something to do. And even Brenda told me that she'd been here for 30 years and she still hadn't discovered everything in DC. So that was what I like to explore. I like that piece of it so and also academically. As soon as I committed here, it was seen as a public Ivy and like my mom was big on education, so I'm like,  look at God. So literally, in every aspect of my life, from friends to family to academics, to future jobs, even Under Armour in Baltimore. Like it literally was like, the answer, yeah. So I have enjoyed there's a lot of stuff that happened, the good, the bad, the ugly, but I would not trade that for anything in the world. I'm so grateful to be here.

What was your favorite part of the Croatia trip?

CD: Even though I was asleep, I really enjoyed the boat rides. Like the boat it was nice. Like the breeze, the sun was hitting. I didn't really get in the water because of my lashes. But you know, it was really nice, and I actually got some good sleep, got a nice little tan, and then also just explored. I got a whole lot of shades. There were a lot of cool shades there. But one thing about me, I love sunglasses. I love glasses, and I probably left with four pairs. But it was worth it to me. I have a whole glasses collection. Just being in a different country, it was really nice to see and experience things that are not common, like, not you don't hear a lot of people say that they're gonna go to Croatia just for vacation, but it's really beautiful, and it was really something different than I was expecting. 

If you didn't play basketball, what sport would you play?

CD: I'd probably run track and field. I don't know. I would probably do long distance and cross country. I'm not that good, but I like it, and I give props to all cross country runners, because that is ridiculous. Yeah, I watched the Olympics, and people are running a sub, sub six mile first. Like, wow, that's fast. But people don't understand when you're actually running it. How absurd. So like I ran when I was in high school, I ran like a sub, probably 12-15 so someone chopped half my time? Yeah, that's crazy, so I'd probably do that. And then I don't know why, but pole vaulting, yeah, I don't know, but pole vaulting, I'm scared of heights, but pole vaulting. That's hard. Shout out to all the pole vaulters out there. So that's hard.

If you brought a friend to Maryland, where would you take him to eat?

CD: Potomac pizza, like I haven't really explored much, but anything on red card they can eat there. So anything on a red card they can eat Potomac. 

So if you could have dinner with three people, dead or alive, who would they be?
CD: I have to see  - Michael Jordan. Barack Obama and I'm really split because Travis Kelce, so we don't even need to talk about Travis Kelsce. Michael Jackson is a great one, him. I would also really like to meet Aaliyah, because she passed away back in 2000-2001. I know I definitely said way more than three people. 
 
If your sport had a mascot based on you, what would it be?

CD: It'd be a freaking dancing robot, anything dancing, like, maybe, like, I'm like, picturing it like dancing, like disco 80s, like, with the bulb, with the disco ball, yeah, and it's time to bring out, and then it's like, 80s, straight 80s music. Anything dancing, to be honest, because I love to dance, even like, like in games, if we're standing there waiting for the media, we're standing there waiting for the table to I guess, just especially if the band is playing, I'm getting groovy.
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