Iona standout, Albertus Magnus grad Kate Mager is college basketball 3-point champion
It didn't matter if there was a hand in Kate Mager's face or if she was racing against the clock, nothing was slowing down the sharp-shooting New City native this season.
Cool under pressure and skilled from long range, the Iona standout garnered a reputation for being one of the top three-point shooters in the country. Her skills were put to the test, as she was invited to compete at this year's State Farm College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships in Houston, Texas.
On Thursday night, she got to solidify her spot as the queen of the three-point shot, winning the women's basketball three-point contest.
Afterwards, she defeated men's three-point champion, Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis, in a one-on-one three-point shootout in the battle of the champs and got to stand alone as the nation's best.
"It was awesome," Mager said. "It was really cool to be able to represent Iona on such a big stage, and shoutout to Antoine Davis, he's an awesome player. I think he solidified himself as the best three-point shooter in NCAA history, so it was really cool to go against him, and I was just happy to be there."
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Mager racked up 69 points over three rounds to win the college women's three-point title.
She then had to take on Davis in a one-on-one three-point shooting contest. Davis, a standout at Detroit Mercy, set the career record for NCAA Division I all-time made three-pointers. He also became the Horizon League's all-time leading scorer and fell just three points shy of the NCAA all-time scoring record held by Pete Maravich.
Davis went first and scored 19 points. Mager easily cleared the mark midway through the fourth rack and finished with 25 points to become the undisputed three-point champion.
"I didn't think the clock was the issue, it was more so making sure that I stayed in my shot, which is something coach (Billi) Chambers always tells us to just focus on that and have my confidence high," Mager said.
Earlier in the night, Mager also won the Team Shootout event, which preluded the three-point and slam dunk contests.
She teamed up with Liberty's Darius McGhee and Milwaukee's Ahmad Rand, as they finished with the fastest time to hit shots from four designated areas on the court, including a half-court and three-point shot.
"I just kinda remember what my brother used to always tell me," Mager said. "Confidence high, let it fly."
Mager, an alumna of Albertus Magnus High School, transferred to Iona for her final college basketball season, after previously playing at Merrimack.
She broke numerous records with her three-point shot at Merrimack, and she did the same at Iona, setting the single-season program record for three-point shooting percentage (47.7%).
Mager also made 104 long-range shots, which were good for the second-most all-time in a single season at Iona, and her overall shooting percentage of 52.0% ranked the fifth-highest in Gael history.
She served as a catalyst in the Gaels' 26-7 season, which included MAAC regular season and tournament titles, as well as their second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Mager landed on the All-MAAC second team and was named all-tournament of the MAAC championships.
She averaged 11.9 points per game and her career-high 47.7% mark from three-point range was the second-highest in the country.
It was a thrilling end to Mager's final season, before she goes onto the next chapter of her life and graduates at the end of the semester. She's an education major.
"It's time for me to retire, so for me to retire like that is awesome," Mager said. "I'm just so grateful. Basketball is such a great sport, I've met so many awesome people through it and I'm just really happy."
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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New City native, Iona's Kate Mager is college basketball 3-point champ
