Zuercher blossoms at Ripon

It seems like Carissa Zuercher has been playing basketball forever.

But since learning the game in third grade, the Delafield resident is about to close out her longtime career in the sport she so very much loves.

Zuercher is a starting guard on this year's women's basketball team at Ripon College and she hopes to go out in style, with her team playing in the NCAA Division 3 national tournament.

"We made the NCAA tournament last year and it was an unbelievable experience," Zuercher said. "I can't even begin to tell you how much it meant to me and all of my teammates. You can't go any higher than that. You just have no idea how much fun it was to play in the NCAA tournament. It's something I'll never forget."

Zuercher and her Ripon teammates appear to be right on track to make it back to the big show. They are tied with Lake Forest for first place in the Midwest Conference standings with an 8-1 record. At the end of the conference season, the top four teams advance to the league tournament. From there, the winner earns an automatic berth in the NCAA meet.

"We're having a very good season this year," Zuercher added. "We're winning a lot of games and playing with a lot of confidence. Hopefully we can finish strong and get back to the NCAA's."

This year's team is presently 12-4 on the season after finishing 17-9 one year ago. Though Zuercher said she has loved her experience since enrolling at Ripon in the fall of 2006, she has one regret.

"My grandmother, who helped raise me, wanted me to go to Ripon in the worst way," Zuercher said, her voice breaking a little. "She did come up and visit me one time. Unfortunately, she never got to watch me play basketball because she passed away just before the season started. That was hard on me. She loved to watch me play. So last year, when we played for the tournament championship, I dedicated the game in her memory."

Fittingly, Zuercher and her teammates won that game. Somewhere, grandma was very happy.

Winning ways

Living with her grandparents in Delafield, Zuercher played four years of varsity basketball at Waukesha West. She started all four years at West and had just one winning season. Things didn't get much better when she enrolled at Ripon. Her first two seasons the Red Hawks finished with marks of 4-12 and 5-11.

"I played on winning select teams in grade school, but it had been a long time since I had winning seasons in high school or college." Zuercher said. "I was hoping to turn that around when I got to college."

But last year, as a junior, Zuercher and her teammates did turn things around. They not only had a winning season, but won the conference championship for the fourth time since 1996. They also earned their fourth-ever berth in the NCAA tournament.

The 5-foot-5 guard has played a major role in the team's success, which has risen to new heights this year.

"I would say that Carissa has won three or four games for us this year (by herself)," said Julie Johnson, the winningest coach in Ripon College history. "In her four years here, she's grown into a terrific college player. She's finally tapped into her potential. She always had a lot of ability. But now she's matured into a better basketball player. She does a lot of things well for us."

In the mix

Zuercher, who is majoring in exercise science, has started all 16 games this year after coming off the bench as a junior and averaging 20 minutes per game. She played around 10 minutes per game her first two seasons at Ripon.

Zuercher is averaging 9.8 points per game this year, double what she scored last year. Her biggest game of the season came in December against Grinnell, when she scored a career-best 26 points. In that same game, she also had a career-best seven rebounds and set a personal record of seven assists in a game last week against Lawrence.

"My goal right now it to try and get to double figures," Zuercher said with a laugh. "Actually, all I care about is winning games and getting back to the NCAA tournament. That's where all my focus is right now. This is my last season. I want it to be the best."

Zuercher ranks ninth in school history in career steals and is 10th in 3-point shooting with 34 threes. Before she finishes, she should move up a couple of spots on both of those lists.

"Carissa has improved her shooting a lot since coming here," Johnson said. "She's not afraid of hard work. She works hard on defense and also plays hard on offense. She's improved in leaps and bounds.

"She gambles a lot on defense to make steals, but that's OK, because she's quick enough to get back and recover. On offense, she can knock down a 3-pointer for us, or lead the fas tbreak. She's a very smart player that understands the game. She's been a clutch player for us the last two years."