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PITTSBURG —
Pittsburg State guard Drew Roberts recently closed out her career on the court, a four-year contributor and three-time all-MIAA performer in the Gorilla backcourt.
She ended her career with 1,045 points, appropriately ranked No. 12 in school history, as well as 102 starts and 185 3-pointers, second in school history. Roberts played on teams with a combined record of 74-42 (.640 winning percentage).
Roberts, a Blue Springs, Mo., native, talked about what brought her to Pittsburg.
"Actually, I didn't talk with Pitt until late in my senior year," Roberts said. "Coach Davied (Amanda Davied) and Coach Lord (Lane Lord) and the whole staff came to my house. We all talked about it. I came on a visit and I liked it a lot. The coaching staff is what brought me into Pittsburg.
"My family really enjoyed Coach Lord. He's just a good guy overall who takes care of his players. That's what I heard, he was awesome. He influenced me a lot to come here and play."
The 2011-12 season (Roberts' junior year) will be one that those associated with Pitt State women's basketball will never forget — the school record 27-6 season which ended in the Elite Eight. Of course, Roberts will never forget it and for more than just on-court reasons — her father, David, died of cancer Dec. 14, 2011. Dad was his daughter's biggest fan.
"With everything with my dad, you would think I would have a bad year with all that going on," Roberts said. "It's almost like he pushed me harder to accomplish even more. I just wanted to fight even more for him, even though it was tough. I had a lot of support here at Pittsburg and back at home (especially her mother, Gina). I went home to see them a lot so it was good. A lot was your teammates being there for you. I think that's how I got through it, honestly.
"Basketball is what got me through the hard times. It just keeps my mind off a lot of things. It keeps me busy instead of just sitting at home."
Roberts has a tattoo of her father (high school picture) on her upper left arm.
On the court last year, with the combination of veteran players and the addition of freshmen Lizzy Jeronimus and Morgan Westhoff, the Gorillas clicked and clicked early — rattling off a school-record 14 consecutive wins to start the season.
"We had chemistry, for sure," Roberts said. "We knew each other's strengths."
Pitt State had never won a NCAA Tournament game until the 2011-12 squad defeated Central Missouri, Northeastern State and Emporia State to win the South Central Regional title. The Gorillas lost to national champion Shaw in the Elite Eight.
With several contributors and three starters (Roberts, Jeronimus, Alexa Bordewick) returning, expectations were high for the 2012-13 season. Things started going rough for the Gorillas early on but Pitt State finished the regular season 17-9 overall and 11-7 in the expanded, even tougher MIAA.
"There were so many injuries that we never had to deal with (before)," Roberts said. "Usually, there's one or two. I got my ankle sprained and I was out four games. Y'Cedria (Devers) with her stuff. Alexa (Bordewick) with her broken nose. Hailey (Roderique) with her ACL, she was our best defender. That was a big loss. Hailey and Y'Cedria are our best defenders. We all had to step it up on the defensive end.”
Roberts went through her own injury problems and a shift in the lineup. She said she hurt her ankle by landing wrong on it after grabbing a rebound against Lindenwood.
"My shooting percentage was definitely not the same as last season but I mean, Morgan had her best year," Roberts said. "She filled in for me. Toward the end of the year, he (Coach Lord) moved me to point guard and I thought that was a great transition for our team. I haven't played point guard since my freshman year a little bit. It was a huge thing for us. With Alexa moving over to the shooting guard, there was no hard feelings there. We're close-enough friends to where that wasn't even in the picture."
Roberts crossed the 1,000-point barrier in a 79-68 win over Central Oklahoma. Coming into the game at 999, Roberts hit a three early on for the milestone.
Roberts got to play her senior year in a revamped John Lance Arena.
"When I was in high school, after I left, that's when they got a new gym," Roberts said. "I was just thankful I had one here in college that I got to play on the new floor. I felt like we accomplished that too, since we had such a good year. I felt like the women's basketball team had a lot to do with people giving us money for that. It felt good to know that we had an impact on their decision to get that done quicker."
The official floor dedication of Whetzel Court took place Jan. 5, a 76-47 win for the Gorillas over Northwest Missouri and under the bright lights of the CBS Sports Network.
"I definitely felt that was one of our best games of the year," Roberts said. "I felt like that's when we knew we had something. For a while, we weren't on a winning streak but that game, it gave us hope like we could definitely do this and we have a chance. We all played well, that was neat and it was on national television, that was cool.”
Roberts added that Lord gave each of his players a copy of the game on disc, something that she's not yet watched.
That was the game fellow senior Lauren Brown grabbed a school-record 22 rebounds.
Making Roberts' life easier on the floor was her playing with interior players Larissa Richards and Brown.
"Larissa's a great player," Roberts said. "It sucks that we didn't have her back but I think Lauren did a great job there in the middle of the season. She really stepped it up for us. I think she gave it her all."
Roberts was honored on Senior Day along with Brown and Lisa Elmer.
"I know we're all very close," Roberts said. "I don't know what their plans are but I'm sure we'll all keep in contact."
Roberts, a recreation major, said that she's on track to graduate in December, not May.
"I still haven't decided what I'm going to do," Roberts said. "I still need to graduate. That's my goal right now, and I'll figure it out later from then on."
Pittsburg State guard Drew Roberts recently closed out her career on the court, a four-year contributor and three-time all-MIAA performer in the Gorilla backcourt.
She ended her career with 1,045 points, appropriately ranked No. 12 in school history, as well as 102 starts and 185 3-pointers, second in school history. Roberts played on teams with a combined record of 74-42 (.640 winning percentage).
Roberts, a Blue Springs, Mo., native, talked about what brought her to Pittsburg.
"Actually, I didn't talk with Pitt until late in my senior year," Roberts said. "Coach Davied (Amanda Davied) and Coach Lord (Lane Lord) and the whole staff came to my house. We all talked about it. I came on a visit and I liked it a lot. The coaching staff is what brought me into Pittsburg.
"My family really enjoyed Coach Lord. He's just a good guy overall who takes care of his players. That's what I heard, he was awesome. He influenced me a lot to come here and play."
The 2011-12 season (Roberts' junior year) will be one that those associated with Pitt State women's basketball will never forget — the school record 27-6 season which ended in the Elite Eight. Of course, Roberts will never forget it and for more than just on-court reasons — her father, David, died of cancer Dec. 14, 2011. Dad was his daughter's biggest fan.
"With everything with my dad, you would think I would have a bad year with all that going on," Roberts said. "It's almost like he pushed me harder to accomplish even more. I just wanted to fight even more for him, even though it was tough. I had a lot of support here at Pittsburg and back at home (especially her mother, Gina). I went home to see them a lot so it was good. A lot was your teammates being there for you. I think that's how I got through it, honestly.
"Basketball is what got me through the hard times. It just keeps my mind off a lot of things. It keeps me busy instead of just sitting at home."
Roberts has a tattoo of her father (high school picture) on her upper left arm.
On the court last year, with the combination of veteran players and the addition of freshmen Lizzy Jeronimus and Morgan Westhoff, the Gorillas clicked and clicked early — rattling off a school-record 14 consecutive wins to start the season.
"We had chemistry, for sure," Roberts said. "We knew each other's strengths."
Pitt State had never won a NCAA Tournament game until the 2011-12 squad defeated Central Missouri, Northeastern State and Emporia State to win the South Central Regional title. The Gorillas lost to national champion Shaw in the Elite Eight.
With several contributors and three starters (Roberts, Jeronimus, Alexa Bordewick) returning, expectations were high for the 2012-13 season. Things started going rough for the Gorillas early on but Pitt State finished the regular season 17-9 overall and 11-7 in the expanded, even tougher MIAA.
"There were so many injuries that we never had to deal with (before)," Roberts said. "Usually, there's one or two. I got my ankle sprained and I was out four games. Y'Cedria (Devers) with her stuff. Alexa (Bordewick) with her broken nose. Hailey (Roderique) with her ACL, she was our best defender. That was a big loss. Hailey and Y'Cedria are our best defenders. We all had to step it up on the defensive end.”
Roberts went through her own injury problems and a shift in the lineup. She said she hurt her ankle by landing wrong on it after grabbing a rebound against Lindenwood.
"My shooting percentage was definitely not the same as last season but I mean, Morgan had her best year," Roberts said. "She filled in for me. Toward the end of the year, he (Coach Lord) moved me to point guard and I thought that was a great transition for our team. I haven't played point guard since my freshman year a little bit. It was a huge thing for us. With Alexa moving over to the shooting guard, there was no hard feelings there. We're close-enough friends to where that wasn't even in the picture."
Roberts crossed the 1,000-point barrier in a 79-68 win over Central Oklahoma. Coming into the game at 999, Roberts hit a three early on for the milestone.
Roberts got to play her senior year in a revamped John Lance Arena.
"When I was in high school, after I left, that's when they got a new gym," Roberts said. "I was just thankful I had one here in college that I got to play on the new floor. I felt like we accomplished that too, since we had such a good year. I felt like the women's basketball team had a lot to do with people giving us money for that. It felt good to know that we had an impact on their decision to get that done quicker."
The official floor dedication of Whetzel Court took place Jan. 5, a 76-47 win for the Gorillas over Northwest Missouri and under the bright lights of the CBS Sports Network.
"I definitely felt that was one of our best games of the year," Roberts said. "I felt like that's when we knew we had something. For a while, we weren't on a winning streak but that game, it gave us hope like we could definitely do this and we have a chance. We all played well, that was neat and it was on national television, that was cool.”
Roberts added that Lord gave each of his players a copy of the game on disc, something that she's not yet watched.
That was the game fellow senior Lauren Brown grabbed a school-record 22 rebounds.
Making Roberts' life easier on the floor was her playing with interior players Larissa Richards and Brown.
"Larissa's a great player," Roberts said. "It sucks that we didn't have her back but I think Lauren did a great job there in the middle of the season. She really stepped it up for us. I think she gave it her all."
Roberts was honored on Senior Day along with Brown and Lisa Elmer.
"I know we're all very close," Roberts said. "I don't know what their plans are but I'm sure we'll all keep in contact."
Roberts, a recreation major, said that she's on track to graduate in December, not May.
"I still haven't decided what I'm going to do," Roberts said. "I still need to graduate. That's my goal right now, and I'll figure it out later from then on."
