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Printer-Friendly ModeSenior point guard Tricia Everett takes GLIAC lead in assists
January 28, 2008 —
Tricia Everett may be soft spoken off the court, but she's certainly making a loud statement on it.
The junior point guard is currently leading the GLIAC with 7.11 assists per game, a full assist more than her closest competitor. However, when asked of how she felt when she learned she was leading the GLIAC in assists, Everett had little to say on the subject.
"It's a good goal to have, a cool accomplishment. I'm excited about it," she said as she looked around the gym, watching some of her teammates taking extra jump shots after practice.
"We've just got to keep working hard. Good things come to people who work hard. We need to just dig deep, deeper than the other team to pull it out," she added, shifting focus to her team and it's performance so far this season.
That's the sort of player Everett has become this season. A classic pass first point guard, focusing more on how she can help her teammates succeed, rather than looking for shots herself.
"I think she is starting to realize who her scorers are, and getting the ball to them," head coach Vonnie Killmer said. "She puts the right people in the right position to score."
A key contributor for the Cards since her freshman year, Everett's production from the point has blown up this season. Coming in, she'd averaged just under four assists per game. This season, she's recorded double-digit assist totals five times, including a 15-assist performance against Tiffin on Dec. 1, which set the Cardinals' single game assist record.
However, the Cardinals are only 8-11 on the season, and have only managed one victory in conference play. Killmer pointed out how that doesn't show how well her point guard's season has progressed.
"I don't think our record is indicative of how well she's played," Killmer said of her point guard's steady improvement over the past season.
Much of Everett's game consists of pushing the ball, penetrating open lanes, drawing defenders off her teammates and getting them the ball. However, she says much of her success in doing that has come from work on her overall game.
"This year I've been trying to be more of a threat than last year. I have had to work on my shot to make people guard me."
As a two-sport athlete at Swan Valley high school, Everett played both basketball and softball. Killmer says because of her time spent playing softball she was overlooked by many of those who scout AAU teams in the summer.
"I had coached at Arthur Hill before I got here, and we always scrimmaged Swan Valley," Killmer said. "Tricia wasn't a kid who played AAU because her softball season coincided with it. So, a lot of people really didn't know about her. I knew about her because of the scrimmages we had against her in the summer. When I got this job, we wanted to go after Trish. We thought she could play, we thought she could help us, and she is.
"I think she's just now starting to tap into her potential. I'm proud of her because she works hard everyday. It's been a tough year, we lost some players before the season, and now we're so close, losing games by one point, two points. Sometimes it's hard to keep going through that, but she keeps working hard, and doing the things she needs to do to be a good point guard."
If there is a stat that demonstrates unselfishness in the box score, an assist is it. Everyone remembers the person who hit the game winning shot, but no one remembers who gave them the ball. Yet, it's up to that player, players like Tricia Everett, to keep passing, and keep playing, even though they might not be the one to get the glory.
"I just play every game the same, and go as hard as I can. I keep playing play by play, forget what happened the play before that, and keep going."
