February 15, 2014
By Kelly McHugh
When
you ask K-State women's basketball head coach Deb Patterson about her
2004 Big 12 Championship winning team, her face still lights up thinking
back to that special era in the program's history.
A team
highlighted by Kansas natives Kendra Wecker (Marysville), Nicole Ohlde
(Clay Center) and Laurie Koehn (Moundridge), it was a team full of
personality and talent, and a team that had the entire state behind it.
Though a decade has passed since that K-State dream team, there's no doubt that it's a team Patterson thinks about often.
"I
think about it all the time," she said. "There will never be anything
like that again, and I don't mean that negatively, I mean it with the
utmost respect and fondness. It was a special point in time in Kansas
State women's basketball history. It was so unique in that you had these
players who were all basically from Kansas or very, very close, and
their fans, their communities, basically followed them to Kansas State
and every game their towns literally shut down, came on the road and
came to the women's basketball games."
This
afternoon, the 2004 Big 12 Championship team will be reunited and
recognized on the court at the K-State women's basketball game against
Texas Tech. The game is set to tip off at 2 p.m., with the 2004 team
making a special appearance at half time.
"My
whole college experience, it was the best years of my life," Ohlde
said. "If I could go back, physically and do them again I would. I made
lasting friendships
,
people that I still talk to today and call my best friends. I just
think of the relationships that we built, how hard we worked on the
court and all the effort that we put forth on the court. To see a Big 12
championship come, to win big games and to be able to go to the NCAA
tournament, when you look back and you see those things it's just great
memories."
,
people that I still talk to today and call my best friends. I just
think of the relationships that we built, how hard we worked on the
court and all the effort that we put forth on the court. To see a Big 12
championship come, to win big games and to be able to go to the NCAA
tournament, when you look back and you see those things it's just great
memories."
Among the team's returners for the
event are: Claire Coggins, Chelsea Domenico, Amy Dutmer, Brie Madden,
Jessica McFarland, Kimmery Newsom, Nicole Ohlde, Naytanda Smith and
Kendra Wecker. Laurie Koehn and Megan Mahoney are both still playing
professional basketball, in Australia and Italy, respectively, and are
unable to attend today's event.
In 2004,
6-foot-4 Ohlde was named a consensus All-American for the second
straight season, earned Big 12 Player of the Year honors and at the
conclusion of the season, saw her No. 3 jersey raised to the rafters of
Bramlage Coliseum. After her career at K-State, she played six years in
the WNBA with the Minnesota Lynx (2004-08), the Phoenix Mercury (2009-10) and the Tulsa Shock (2010) before finishing her career in Europe.
(2009-10) and the Tulsa Shock (2010) before finishing her career in Europe.
"She
was a phenomenal player as it related to her fundamental footwork,"
Patterson explained about Ohlde. "She had great speed up the floor.
She was a deer. She had great hands and great finishing ability. It was
interesting because she was versatile, she was a very fluid athlete,
and you wouldn't see that in a lot of post players."
.
She was a deer. She had great hands and great finishing ability. It was
interesting because she was versatile, she was a very fluid athlete,
and you wouldn't see that in a lot of post players."
Wecker
was also an All-American in 2004 earning third team honors from the AP
and was a three-time All-Big 12 First Team selection. Her senior season
(2005) she earned Big 12 Player of the Year before being drafted fourth
overall to the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars.
"She
was unbelievably explosive," explained Patterson. "She was physically
very compact and in a 3-step range, she could bring great quickness,
great elevation and a real quick finish on a jump shot. She was an
explosive rebounder with big, strong, physical strength. She really was a
phenom in respect to her athleticism."
Wecker
and Ohlde are K-State's top career scorers. Wecker's career 2,333 points
are the best in Wildcat history followed by Ohlde with 2,241 career
points. The duo holds the record for consecutive double-doubles (tied at
5 games each) while Wecker's 52 career double-doubles are a K-State
best followed by Ohlde's 39. The two also top the charts in career
field goals made with Wecker's 935 and Ohlde's 882.
When
it comes to three-pointers, though, teammate Laurie Koehn led the way.
Her 392 career three-pointers are not only a K-State record, but remain
the NCAA Division I record as well.
"We've had NBA and WNBA coaches say that they think she's the best shooter
in the world, and they just really mean that," Patterson said about
Koehn. "She is unbelievable, quick release, and she has held that NCAA
three point record. It's over 10 years ago now and she missed more than
15 games in her career due to injury. How in the world with the modern
game as it's been and the great, great talents, can Laurie Koehn still
hold that record, that great, great record, knowing she was out at least
15 games of her career? It's a tremendous statement to how great she
is."
in the world, and they just really mean that," Patterson said about
Koehn. "She is unbelievable, quick release, and she has held that NCAA
three point record. It's over 10 years ago now and she missed more than
15 games in her career due to injury. How in the world with the modern
game as it's been and the great, great talents, can Laurie Koehn still
hold that record, that great, great record, knowing she was out at least
15 games of her career? It's a tremendous statement to how great she
is."
Players like Ohlde, Wecker and Koehn
helped pave the way for growth of women's basketball in the state of
Kansas. It was an era when Bramlage Coliseum would average more than
9,000 fans to watch the women's team play, and girls statewide wanted to
grow up and be basketball players just like their heroes on the K-State
court.
"It captivated the spirit, it elevated
the level of exposure across this state for youth, high school,
elementary and middle school basketball for that five or six year
period," Patterson explained. "It went from really no profile to
actually having one and I think we've seen the ripple effects in just
the growth all across the state. A great deal of that came on the wings
of that particular team."
Today will be a special day for the entire program with the return of a few of its all-time greatest.
"I'm
so excited to see everybody," Ohlde said. "I haven't seen some of those
girls since I gradated in '04, so I think it will be really fun to see
everyone and just kind of reminisce, hang out and have a good time."
And for Patterson, having her 2004 team reunited will bring back all those fond memories again.
"The
achievements, the rides, the sellouts, there will never be firsts like
that again," she said. "People were fired up, and it was just a very
special time."
