Editor's note: Ball State's Tamara Bowie, last season's Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, will share a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season.

Jan. 3, 2002

Happy New Year! Sorry that it has been awhile since I have last talked with you. It has been a really busy time of the year.

	Tamara Bowie averaged 18.6 points and 8.4 rebounds as a sophomore in 2000-01.

It was nice being home for the holidays. I was able to spend a lot of time with my family and friends. Christmas was nice and I got everything that I asked for -- even the golf clubs! The time seemed to go by really fast because I was always on the go.

The day after Christmas, I headed back to Muncie for practice. We left for the Florida International Sun & Fun Classic in Miami at 7 a.m. on Dec. 27. The weather was lovely in Florida and I did not want to come home. We practiced at FIU when we arrived and then went on a tournament cruise with the FIU team.

The cruise started out a little slow, but after the new D.J. (our sports information director Chris Taylor) stepped in, it picked up. Of course, being the crazy team that we are, we got the dance floor kicking! The hour-long cruise was a chance for some quality time with my teammates and the players from FIU. After the cruise, we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and then returned to the hotel.

Our first game was against the FIU Panthers. It was a good game, even though we started off kind of slow. After we picked it up, it was a battle until about the four-minute mark. I think we learned a really good lesson that day about playing as a team. It was a three-point game at that point, but we started playing as individuals and FIU pulled away for the victory.

After a good lesson learned, we were ready to play UAB 24 hours later. We had a better start and built a 24-9 lead. UAB started to chip away at our lead and closed the gap at halftime. After a "spirited" halftime talk from coach Roller, we came out with more intensity in the second half and won the game. The win was a good way to end our nonconference season with an 8-3 record, but my thoughts go out to UAB's All-American, Deanna Jackson, who went down with an injury in the game.

We had two practices before our Mid-American Conference opener at Central Michigan on Jan. 2. We are really excited about starting the MAC and building on what we did last year. Going into this game, Central Michigan was off to its best start in 10 years, so we knew the game would be a challenge.

In the first 10 minutes, we started off very enthused and playing really good defense. In second 10 minutes, we looked a little tired and weren't as sharp. We went into halftime up 11 points. The second half was a little better, but it wasn't like the way we started. CMU chipped away at the lead, but everyone made plays down the stretch to get the "W."

OK, I have to go now. I am getting a little nauseous looking at the computer screen. Yes, I am riding on the bus on the way home from Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. I'll be back next week after we host Marshall on Jan. 5.

One Love,

Bowie