The Pacific University women’s basketball team has a bright spot of hope despite a team struggling season. This bright spot is lefty freshman Courtney Carolan out of Spokane Valley, Wash. who may not lead the Boxers in every statistical category, but has become a young leader for the team with a big future ahead.
Carolan’s strong statistical sheet to begin her Pacific career entails, starting every game, leading the team in minutes, with an average of 30.2, rebounds with 5.7 per game and third on the team with an average of 8.7 points per game. Not to mention her 38 steals which ranks seventh in the Northwest Conference (NWC) alone. Carolan’s 47 percent shooting also ranks eleventh among the conference.
As for the freshmen’s role on the team, she believes it is not about being the best player on the team or a scorer, but rather being a leader on the court.
“The role I play on the team is a role that I have done my whole basketball career,” Carolan said. “I think my role on the team is doing the little things that aren’t necessarily shown on the stat sheet. Being a leader, being loud on the court on defense, going for the 50/50 balls, and bringing energy to the team on the court.”
The Boxer coaching staff understands Carolan’s skill set and has allowed her to play freely and be the loud and energetic player she is.
“I like the role I play on this team, it is who I am as a player, and the coaches haven’t asked me to do anything major which really helps a lot,” Carolan said.
Her first season at Pacific has been nothing but great. She has enjoyed the process of getting closer to the coaches, the team and the program itself. Also mentioning how different the transition from high school basketball to college is. But, coming in her first season, her only expectations were to put in the time and play the best she could.
“I did not have any expectations for myself other than to work hard and play the best I can and just go from there,” Carolan said. “I knew coming into the program that I was really going to have to prove myself if I wanted to play.”
While the team itself has struggled as a whole, ranking second to last in the conference with a 3-17 overall record and 2-10 in NWC play, there is a promising future for the young Boxer team.
“The future of this program looks really good,” Carolan said. “We have a lot of young players on this team, and this whole season we have constantly grown as a team, and it has been really fun to watch. I think once we get more experience with playing at the college level, we will be just fine. Larry has done a great job with this team this year, he has really built a strong foundation and the time and effort he puts in this team and how much he believes in us is incredible. “
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