The next Italian game

The Cardinal will play their second game in Italy tomorrow in Lucca, a city about 50 miles west of Florence. It's apt to be a bit more challenging than the first one.

Monday's opponent was the team that finished last (of 14) in Italy's A2 League with a 6-20 record. The team they will play tomorrow — Le Mura Lucca, also called Ducato Le Mura — finished second with a 23-3 record. (The photo above is of forward Arianna Zampieri.)

The game is an important one in Lucca for several reasons:

• The game is dedicated to the remembrance of a shocking tragedy that happened recently in the nearby town of Viareggio. A train carrying liquefied gas derailed and set off a massive explosion that consumed nearby homes. The proceeds of the game, matched by Ducato (one of the team sponsors), will be donated to two children whose families were destroyed.
  
• It is the first friendly (i.e., non-conference) game of the season and will present this season's team to its fans.
  
• A goal of Ducato is to have Lucca become a center of excellence in women's basketball at every level. Tomorrow's game is described in the team website as a basketball match of high level against the noble athletes of Stanford University.

The results of friendly games are apparently not reported in Europe, but this game may be. On Ducato Le Mura's website (translated here by Google), there's a slide show accompanied by this information:

09.09.2009 friendly match
Ducato Walls    00
Stanford          00

It doesn't appear to be a gametracker — they may do no more than post the final score tomorrow. If you're curious you might check it at game time (11:30 am PT on Wednesday).