Former A-C standout Alyssa Evans scores 1,000th career point at Ursuline College
CLEVELAND – After having an illustrious, record-breaking high school career at Amanda-Clearcreek, Alyssa Evans knew she would have to prove herself all over again once she started playing in college.
She has done that and more. Now a senior at Ursuline College, Evans reached a milestone by scoring her 1,000th career point in the Arrows’ 75-63 win over Walsh University last week.
Evans, who finished with 18 points and six assists in the game, is the eighth player in program history to score 1,000 points. She accomplished her scoring milestone in the third quarter on a driving layup.
Evans has always been a scorer, and while she dominated in high school playing for the Aces, she had to adjust a little once she started playing in college.
“Going in as a freshman, I had high expectations after having a successful high school career,” Evans said. “I was looking forward to going to college and making the same difference I did in high school. At the beginning of my college career, it was a little bit of a wake-up call, and it wasn’t as easy as I was expecting it to be. You face different challenges, and you face girls that are taller and faster, and you have to adapt. I knew from the beginning that it wouldn’t be easy, but I adapted and grew as a player over the last four years just like I did in high school.
“I knew (scoring 1,000 points) was a realistic goal, and it was super exciting when I knew I was getting close. The process was not easy, but I was super excited to accomplish it.”
Evans helped lead Amanda-Clearcreek to back-to-back Division III championships. As a senior, Evans averaged 20.1 points and 4.5 assists per game. She broke the all-time scoring record when she scored 35 points in a 59-58 regular-season overtime loss at Logan and eventually finished with 1,776 career points, which is the most for a boy or girl in school history. She finished the year with 543 points, 149 assists, 67 3-pointers, made 123 free throws, and had 68 steals.
During her illustrious career, Evans broke eight school records, including most points (1,776), most points in a season (576), most 3s in a game (7 – she did that three times), most 3s in a season (94), most career 3s (252), most free throws in a season (123), most assists in a season (149) and most career assists (424).
She was a two-time Eagle-Gazette Girls Basketball Player of the Year and was selected as the Eagle-Gazette Female Athlete of the Year in 2019 after also having an outstanding season in soccer.
While playing for the Arrows, Evans has steadily improved each year. She averaged 8.0 points per game as a freshman, 11 as a sophomore, 13 as a junior, and this season, she is averaging 18.9 points and is the third-leading scorer in the Great Mid-West Athletic Conference. Evans has done the work in the classroom and has been selected the GMAC All-Academic in each of her first three years in college.
“For me, I feel like I worked really hard in high school, and as I got to college, it got harder and harder to keep that motivation to go to the gym every day,” Evans said. “It wasn’t always easy, but it was something I worked hard for, especially this summer. I wanted to give it everything I had. I spent six out of seven days in the gym. I would lift for an hour and then spend two hours in the gym working on basketball. There were some long days, but those are the sacrifices you have to make.
“It was something that I wanted, and it was hard work, but when you score your 1,000th career points, it made all that hard work worth it. To be honest, when I did it, my teammates came out and hugged me and I got a little emotional and teared up. I guess I didn’t realize how much I wanted it until it happened. It was a great feeling.”
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on Twitter @twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Former A-C standout Alyssa Evans scores 1,000th career point at Ursuline College
