Ella Thompson returns for her final collegiate season this winter after helping Bentley to a 22-10 record in 2022-23.
Submitted photo
Ella Thompson’s sightseeing and basketball abilities both travel quite nicely.
The Bentley point guard recently took part in the team’s trip to Greece, which wrapped visits to a number of touristy destinations around two exhibition games.
The trip was the first time Bentley women’s basketball, a longtime Division II power, competed overseas.
“I would say it was one of the best experiences of my life,” said Thompson, the former Center Grove guard who averaged 10.8 points a game for the Falcons last season and finds herself 88 points shy of the coveted 1,000 mark for her career.
“It was just a great opportunity to get the team together and integrate the freshmen into our system. I think this trip was huge, just getting to know your teammates on a deeper level.”
The Falcons prevailed in both contests. Bentley’s first competition resulted in a 66-50 victory over AAA Athens, a game that saw Thompson score seven points. The Falcons followed that with a 97-49 blowout of a Thessaloniki all-star team.
Basketball, however, took a back seat to the experience of taking in the sights and sounds of a country boasting so much history.
“Our days were packed with tours, and the coolest part was a day where we went to three different islands,” Thompson said. “We would stay on an island for an hour or so, and then go to another.
“And the food was amazing. It was so good, I could’ve stayed there another month and just eaten the food. It was so good.”
The Falcons departed on Aug. 2, had a layover in London and eventually arrived in Athens.
Tours included one of Athens, a cruise of the Saronic Islands to see three islands of the historical Saronic Gulf, a guided city tour of Thessaloniki (located about 310 miles from Athens) and a stop at the site of the Battle of Thermopylae/Memorial of King Leonidas and 300 Spartans.
The trip to Greece was chosen due to connections the Bentley program has with the country. Former Falcons player Christiana Bakolas, a member of Bentley’s 2014 national championship team and now one of its assistant coaches, is of Greek descent. Also, redshirt freshman forward Mikela Cooper is a former member of the Greek 18U national team.
Thompson, who says she misses the chicken gyros of Greece the most, realizes the work ahead if Bentley is to improve on its 22-10 record from the 2022-23 season. The Falcons advanced to the semifinals of the D-II East Region tournament before losing to Assumption, 62-47.
Classes begin at Bentley on Sept. 4; preseason practices commence later that month as the Falcons prepare for their season opener against New Haven on Nov. 15.
Academically, Thompson graduated from Bentley in May with a degree in economics and finance. She’ll soon start pursuit of a master’s in business administration.
Thompson is the lone graduate student on the Falcons’ roster for the 2023-24 season. She was granted an additional year of athletic eligibility due to games lost during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020.
The trip to Greece also demonstrated Thompson’s continued growth as a team leader.
“Ella played great. She’s in fantastic shape, and you’re not supposed to be in season shape in August,” Bentley women’s basketball coach C White said. “Ella led the charge on and off the court.
“Even the way she prepares herself before practices and games … our freshman point guard (Niya Morgen) has an extremely great role model who is mentoring her.”
