Lizanne Murphy is a veteran of the Canada Basketball program and is just finished a season playing with Angers in France. We talk to her about the intense summer season ahead.

Canada Basketball (CB): What area of your game are you looking to work on this summer?

Lizanne Murphy (LM): I am looking to play confidently this summer, to really be aggressive and to build on the great season I just had in France.

CB: Describe the feeling you get when you receive an invitation to try out for the Senior Women’s National Team.

LM: Whenever you get the invite for the SWNT it is exciting because there is always a big goal for the summer (qualification, worlds or Olympics) and the invite is always the first step in the journey for that year. Most of us play in different places, but we look forward to the national team all year, so it's always fun to get it started.

CB: It’s a busy summer with a major exhibition series against Brazil. How excited are you to square off against another top-ten team in the world

LM: I am most excited about playing a great team on home soil. It is very rare that we have the opportunity to play in Canada and I think we will get a lot of people out in Edmonton which is really exciting!

CB: You’ve been with the SWNT for eight years, and lot of your teammates are seasoned veterans too. Can you give us an inside look at the atmosphere or this team? How close is this group?

LM: I have known some of these women for 8+ years and they have become some of my closest friends. Because we spend so much time together in the summers and go through gruelling training camps, everyone usually opens up and bonds really quickly. Whether it's at the meals, in the training room at night, or watching tv shows all in someone's room, we usually get close pretty quickly in the summer. I think that is why we have had success in recent years; when you care about your teammates you want to play harder for and with them.

‍