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Welcome to The Amy Eagan Podcast. Every Saturday Lindenwood University's Head Women's Basketball Coach Amy Eagan talks women's basketball and much, much more. We'll talk about past games, future games, players, the OVC, the NCAA, academics, careers, and many other interesting topics.
Gary D Stocker (00:01.169)
Welcome back to the Amy Egan podcast where each week, Lyndenwood University head women's basketball coach Amy Egan joins us to talk about basketball, course, life in the OVC, academics, careers and cultural opportunities for her players. Joining me today are a couple of players and the first is Alyssa Nielsen. Alyssa is a junior player. Alyssa, thanks for making time out of finals week, I guess, to join me.
Amy Eagan (00:23.803)
Thank you for having me, Dr. Stocker.
Gary D Stocker (00:25.853)
So I can't quite tell if you've got a suntan left over from your trip to Hawaii or not, a little bit of one. us a little bit about the trip, what was particularly fascinating for you, both on the cultural piece and even on the basketball side.
Amy Eagan (00:31.735)
I think I got a little bit. I got some compliments this week, so...
Amy Eagan (00:41.762)
So there was a lot of things. We got to have a couple of really cool experiences, including going to Pearl Harbor. And then we did Team Luau, which is probably the coolest cultural experience, because we got to see dances from different Polynesian islands and Tonga, Tahiti, all that. And they kind of walked us through the history of some of those islands. It was really cool. And it was cool to see my friends try the dances afterwards. we had a really good time at the Luau. We got some good Hawaiian food, which is something I had never had. There was a lot of roosters and chickens walking around everywhere on campus,
really kind of a cultural difference. was really cool. But yeah, was just, it was cool to be like at the ocean in the beach instead of in snow here. So that was just, yeah, it was a really cool experience.
Gary D Stocker (01:21.819)
Yeah, so you want to know that while you're in Hawaii, I was dealing with snow and ice and cold here in St. Louis.
Amy Eagan (01:25.998)
Coming back into that was really unfortunate, but it was pretty.
Gary D Stocker (01:29.501)
And then I talked to some of your teammates, about half of them. Most had not been there before. What did you notice about your teammates as they got off the plane, got to hotel, walked out to the beach for the first time? What did you see with them?
Amy Eagan (01:45.294)
I saw, first of all, we took our jackets off really fast, right outside the airport. was like, just take them off because it was hot. But a couple people had never been in the ocean before and they were shocked at how cold it was. And I was kind of prepared. I had been to Hawaii before, like long, long time ago. But yeah, the ocean really shocked a lot of people. The sand wasn't as smooth as I think some people were expecting. But yeah, and the sunsets. Everybody loved the sunsets. We were out taking pictures every single day.
as the sun started going down. that was probably the biggest reactions they had.
Gary D Stocker (02:19.473)
Very cool. And as a team after the third game, before I go there, let's talk about the basketball. Your team went 2-1 against some pretty good basketball teams. What was that basketball experience like?
Amy Eagan (02:32.364)
I think it really just showed us that we can compete with anybody in the country. Because we went into it, not that we didn't know where we sat. We were very confident that we could win. But I think seeing how well we competed, especially with Hawaii and a team that was so much physically bigger than us in a lot of positions, just to show us that we have that as a team and we have that will to win that I don't know that we we had going into it. It was really cool to fight. even as Hawaii came back, we found ways to extend the gap a little bit and just win games that I
Gary D Stocker (02:47.387)
Yeah.
Amy Eagan (03:02.288)
don't know that we would have won last year.
Gary D Stocker (03:04.045)
Interesting. And let's go to the Pearl Harbor trip, because I know that was after that last game. What was that like for you? And did you have any observations about either your teammates or others you saw when you were on the memorial?
Amy Eagan (03:14.904)
Well, first I want to take a second to thank you because I know you donated that and we really appreciated that. But it was really cool because I don't know that we've all heard the story, obviously. And then, well, at least our American teammates to watch like our international teammates kind of walk through there and learn a little bit about American history that they would have not known. And it was cool. Like I talked to Noah a lot, our Spanish teammate, and like to hear it even like the World War Two side of things from her perspective versus ours and like the way that they learn it and learn about it. Obviously, America plays a smaller
Gary D Stocker (03:29.146)
Interesting.
Amy Eagan (03:44.801)
role in their learning of it. It was just cool to kind of see those cultural differences in the way that we learned about World War II. But yeah, it was a very, very emotional experience. We did end up going in a submarine and some of our taller teammates had a bit of a rough time getting around in there. But just going through the memorial and stuff, was really like, it was really important, like it felt important to be there.
Gary D Stocker (03:46.227)
Hahaha!
Gary D Stocker (04:00.253)
You
Gary D Stocker (04:06.769)
Yeah, and you know, I was born 12 years after D-Day and longer than that, after Pearl Harbor. You know, it was your age men back then who were doing that stuff. that had, even at my age, I look back and recognize there were folks in that era and others since then that have done things, Alyssa, I can't imagine doing and just to realize, and the hero was to trite of a term, but really that's exactly what that was.
Amy Eagan (04:20.6)
yet.
Amy Eagan (04:26.679)
Sorry.
Amy Eagan (04:30.51)
you
Gary D Stocker (04:32.815)
And then I guess I watched the Iowa Iowa State game last night, two pretty good basketball teams. You're headed up to Iowa City on Saturday. What do you expect there?
Amy Eagan (04:32.878)
Yes.
Amy Eagan (04:37.452)
I did too, yes sir.
I'm actually going go out and compete. I'm excited to get a chance to play such a big and story program. mean, like, they've got Caitlin Clark's little record-breaking spot on the court, so that would be cool to see in person. yeah, just it's a great opportunity to play in front of a lot of fans and a really cool program.
Gary D Stocker (04:58.641)
And then finally, Santa Claus doesn't come to my house anymore. I presume he comes to your house on occasion. What kind of holiday wish would you give to your friends and family today?
Amy Eagan (05:01.878)
Yeah.
Amy Eagan (05:09.134)
Really just safe travels, know, I just wish everybody gets together, gets together safely. I'm so excited to go home, see all my family. We're going have a big family party at our little family farm out in Seminole, Oklahoma. So I'm excited to get there and see everybody.
Gary D Stocker (05:22.109)
Okay, well, it's always a pleasure watching you play basketball, always a pleasure having a conversation with you. We'll do many of those many times in the coming years and months, and we'll look forward to seeing you soon. All right, thanks. Let's go ahead and send Anna in then.
Amy Eagan (05:30.03)
All right. All right. I'll see you soon. Thank you. Yes,
Gary D Stocker (06:15.331)
So my second guest today is freshman Anna McCarn from Arkeha... See, I screw up too. See, should be confident here. My second guest today is Anna McCarn from Arkansas. Anna, thanks for making time in finals week to join us on the podcast today.
Amy Eagan (08:19.598)
Okay.
Amy Eagan (08:29.302)
Of course, thank you for having me, Gary.
Gary D Stocker (08:31.517)
So looking back to the last two weeks ago, you were in Hawaii, right? Tell us about that experience, both from the cultural piece, the traveling to that, just the islands of Hawaii and the basketball experience as well.
Amy Eagan (08:35.916)
Yes, sir.
Amy Eagan (08:47.534)
you
I think it was a really cool experience for all of us, first of all, just for like being in Hawaii, because it's like a very unique trip that most people don't get a lot of opportunities to go on. And also seeing like at the luau, seeing their culture and like the different types of traditions they like to have. And then going to Pearl Harbor was also very unique because like all those things are something we can't do here.
Gary D Stocker (09:19.261)
Yeah, let's talk about Pearl Harbor for a second. That was of course 84 some odd years ago. And what was it like standing on that memorial with your teammates and with other visitors to the memorial?
Amy Eagan (09:31.097)
I think it was very humbling to see all of it. We got to go into a submarine and look in there and see what it was like being in there and just seeing the living situations they were in for that time. then also there was two museums that we got to go look in and read all about what had happened. And it talked about what all they went through. So that was very humbling.
to see all of that.
Gary D Stocker (10:02.661)
One of the that Alissa and I talked about a minute ago was the men back then was just men. young men that did that were your age. They were 18, 19 years old. And even though I'm obviously much older than you, it still fascinates me that there are people just like you and me who did what those men and now women did all those decades ago. just, it's, it's, it's not surreal. It's real, but it's just fascinating to realize what, what humans can do when they put their minds to it. So, so the basketball, three pretty good teams and you took care of two of them.
Amy Eagan (10:09.409)
Yeah.
Amy Eagan (10:32.462)
Yeah, so I think all three of the teams we played in Hawaii were very talented, very high-level teams, and I think I was really proud of us for like staying consistent in what we do and fighting even though like considering like it was a tough trip and I think we stayed very focused and we stayed consistent in who we are and I was proud of us for doing that.
Not a big deal. And you're going to Iowa. We just talked about that a minute ago. Good basketball game. What do you expect in Iowa City on Saturday afternoon?
Amy Eagan (11:34.759)
I was, or yeah, I was a very talented team. And so we expect a really competitive game. We just want to go out there and fight pretty hard. and like getting to watch their Iowa versus Iowa state game last night definitely like helped us a little bit. It was a very competitive game to watch, learn their kind of style of play and play against our defense.
Gary D Stocker (11:52.554)
Hahaha
Gary D Stocker (11:59.996)
Yeah, yeah.
So Santa Claus comes two weeks from today. He doesn't come to my house anymore. I presume he still comes to your house. So on the podcast, what kind of holiday wish would you give to friends, family and others?
Amy Eagan (12:14.67)
I'm just excited to see everybody back home. Just hope everybody has a great holidays.
Gary D Stocker (12:23.687)
Good. Well, and I wish you the best. look forward to watching you play this coming season, of course, in years ahead as well. I wish you very best and we'll talk again soon. All right. Take care.
Amy Eagan (12:31.342)
Thank you, Gary.
Amy Eagan (13:03.339)
Anna said she messed up.
Gary D Stocker (13:04.956)
She's fine, but what a difference two years in maturity makes. And then Miss Hantel, she did fine. Nobody will ever know. They all edit out the stuff. And there was one question she was uncomfortable with. I'll take it all out. Not a big deal. It was I asked about, oh, a year ago, could she imagine what she's doing now? And I had not prepped her for that one. And she wasn't ready. So I just said, I'll take it out. Not a big deal. But Alyssa, what an impressive young woman.
Amy Eagan (13:08.662)
Yeah.
Amy Eagan (13:18.241)
What was it?
Amy Eagan (13:25.997)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Amy Eagan (13:34.284)
Yeah, no kidding.
Gary D Stocker (13:34.863)
So anyways, all right. So all I have today is talk Iowa and I probably did with the Iowa state Iowa game last night, which is all we're looking for on Saturday. Let's talk about Western Illinois week from today, Eastern Illinois on the 21st.
Amy Eagan (13:48.44)
prayers.
Gary D Stocker (13:53.469)
I don't know what that note means. So it'd probably be pretty short. Before we get off, I do want to talk about the next show. We probably won't do one until maybe a couple of days before Christmas because of the schedule. So we'll talk about that, right? So we are going to start up at 1410.
Amy Eagan (13:56.471)
Okay.
Amy Eagan (14:03.746)
Yep. Yep.
Gary D Stocker (14:10.311)
Coach Egan, join us again. Coach, always a pleasure to chat with you. Did you get a chance to see the Iowa State Iowa basketball game last night?
Amy Eagan (14:16.948)
Absolutely. You know, it was a great game. you know, the very first like five minutes of it, you know, I sat there and I was like, this is some dang good basketball, probably some of the best basketball I had seen just execution wise, you could tell like, with some of the things that they executed that both of them had really scouted and prepped and taken advantage of some situations that they thought they could take advantage of. So it was pretty cool.
Gary D Stocker (14:45.303)
I got tired watching it because it was an up and down game those first five minutes. And I was flipping back and forth between the Illinois-Missouri game, of which there was nobody in attendance, and the Iowa-State game, which I presume was sold out. And it's fascinating to me to see the support that college teams get, mostly on the high end. Missouri, course, is a program still trying to recover from some bad years. And Iowa State packed that place. And I guess like when you go to Iowa City this coming Saturday, it's going to be noisy.
Amy Eagan (14:48.28)
Yeah.
Amy Eagan (14:52.258)
Yep.
Amy Eagan (14:57.133)
Yeah.
Amy Eagan (15:14.316)
Yeah, yeah, I think they had 14,000 they said there last night. And I think that's pretty like that's pretty typical for Iowa State women. And you know, I always think you know the more you win and the more consistent you are with winning those things happen and they actually at one point last night showed the Iowa State's coaches first game box score and his attendance was 300. And so and they were talking about how much you know him being there and staying there and how much he's grown that program and.
Gary D Stocker (15:35.446)
hahahaha
Amy Eagan (15:41.903)
So I do think like, you know, the more you win, the more you have a program that you can put out there day in and day out that is consistent. think, you know, some of that ends up taking care of itself with it. Yeah, I was flipping back and forth between Illinois and Missouri as well and actually noticed that and made a comment about that as well to one of my friends I was talking to. So.
You just got to keep plugging away and trying to win. And I think those things happen.
Gary D Stocker (16:13.735)
So Iowa was a couple of points short last night. They're still such a good team and you're headed there on Saturday. What kind of expectations do have for that game?
Amy Eagan (16:20.142)
Yeah.
Well, I mean they are and you know it's very clear they are one of the best teams in the nation with
you know, they're the way they play and they have it. They have guards, they have post. mean, they're a lot different than what we've seen this year and really typically what you see these days and I think women's basketball with two post players that they play at the same time. Number one, I think it's hard to find one post player these days that wants to do back to the basket and they have two, three or four that they rotate in and out of there. So, you know, I I expect us to go up. I think it's a great experience for us and opportunity again for us to play.
obviously I think somebody that's bigger, faster, stronger than us and to see how we match up and maybe expose us a little bit. I think that's important and sometimes obviously you don't want to loss with that but I think sometimes that's where you gain a little bit of that of where we need to be exposed and what we need to get better at. So again, really excited for the opportunity and excited for our kids to be in that atmosphere.
Gary D Stocker (17:21.917)
So most of the pre-conference season will have been gone after the Iowa game. I think there's one or two more non-conference games. Next Thursday, I believe, is Western Illinois is in town. Talk a little bit about Western Illinois, and then we'll talk about the game that following Sunday as well.
Amy Eagan (17:34.774)
Yeah, well, I mean, they're really good. They're off to a great start. I think, you know, when you look at their personnel, they've got personnel in every position that can play and maybe don't see that every night on the stat sheet for them, but.
You know, think Mia, Nacastro, who's actually from St. Louis, she's taken her game to another level this summer and is playing extremely well for them. Of course, Reagan is just phenomenal in everything that she does. But I wouldn't lose track of all the other kids around them. The Brownfield kid, you know, they've just got a lot of players that are very talented. So it's going to be really tough matchup for us.
with how they play and how we match up with them. I think it's going to be a really good game of some really good talent on both sides of the ball. And it's probably going to be who shows up that day and is able to execute their game plan to the best. That's going to come away with the win.
Gary D Stocker (18:28.445)
And then your first road OVC game will be at Eastern Illinois. I you're probably looking ahead a little bit too much for that, but what do you expect there?
Amy Eagan (18:35.182)
Yeah, I haven't I haven't watched a ton of them yet and I'll get to that here this weekend, but You know, I think they got some really good recruits in it kind of looked like by one of the box scores I saw that a couple of their players from last year that were key players for them may be injured and haven't played So you never know where what that looks like when you get to conference play if they're if they're just waiting for conference play healing right now waiting for conference play so we'll kind of have to see with that but You know, I think he's done a great job taking
over there and you know he brought in some really you
some really good talent brought in a six eight kid from Texas and he's got some really great talent on that team and I know the kids really enjoy playing for him. So it's our first road trip of conference. So we're gonna have to have a really great great game plan going into that. And you know, I think another thing which we always struggled with our first year is not thinking about what's after that with the break, but really concentrating on, you know, getting that win first and then having the break afterwards.
Gary D Stocker (19:31.68)
Hahaha
Gary D Stocker (19:36.839)
Well, coach, always a pleasure to have you on. Best of luck in Iowa City. I'll be watching here from St. Louis on Saturday afternoon. And we'll talk again soon.
Amy Eagan (19:43.96)
Thanks, Gary, I appreciate it.