Bekkering motivated for GU
I was a little remiss in providing stories in a timely fashion yesterday but I was a little busy.
There was the advance for the Eastern Washington WNIT game at Oregon tonight as well as a brief look at Gonzaga's first-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament, North Carolina.
Tomorrow is a short feature with Gonzaga's Janelle Bekkering. The unedited story I'm filing for tomorrow's paper is below. Bekkering showed a great deal of maturity in dealing with the disappointment of a critical mistake late in last year's NCAA Tournament loss, using it as motivation to become a better player.
EWU fans are gathering at Northern Quest for tonight's game, which is at 7 p.m.
By Dave Trimmer davet@spokesman.com (509) 927-2154 So many good things have happened for Janelle Bekkering in the last year the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” moment was almost forgotten. But because of that split second all the good things mean more. When Gonzaga was in In the frantic final minute of a one-point game she was called for traveling in the open court. “Obviously at first I was kind of disappointed,” Bekkering said. “But it happens in basketball. I took more of a positive out of it, to get better, learn from it. If that situation comes up again, I’m pretty confident now whatever would happen I’d be able to make a better play.” The Bulldogs (27-4) are headed back to Should the game come down to crunch time Bekkering is confident she has done everything possible to be prepared. Before she became the lock-down defender for the 18th-ranked Bulldogs, Bekkering traveled the world with the Canadian Senior Women’s National Team. “It was really fun, getting to travel to some really cool places,” she said. “International basketball is a lot faster game because of a 24-second shot clock (compared to the collegiate 30-second clock) and 8-second back court. It’s a lot more physical and you can get away with a lot more.” The most important part of the experience for Bekkering came before the Canadians placed third in “It definitely helped my confidence,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d make the team last summer. It was such a great experience. You really work on individual skills, I got more confidence through that. And playing more games, too, in that atmosphere.” The national team experience also made her the most accomplished player in a basketball family from “I wouldn’t say I’m the best,” Bekkering, the youngest of five, said. “I learned from them and I definitely had more opportunities.” She wasn’t the first to migrate south. Henry, the middle child, spent two years at Eastern Washington before returning to finish in “I really want to play in Bekkering has another year with the Bulldogs because she redshirted as a freshman after a knee injury. Though she missed GU’s first-ever NCAA appearance, it turned out to be a “blessing” academically because she could lighten her load a little. She’ll finish her civil engineering degree next year and work on a business minor as well as another NCAA berth. That’s a secondary thought at the moment. “I think qualifying for worlds is bigger, playing for your country on the biggest stage,” Bekkering said. “Qualifying for the NCAA Tournament is the same kind of feeling. I’m just so pumped for Saturday.”