ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TOM STOPPEL, SPECIAL TO THE FREE PRESS
When it comes to Tabor College’s nationally ranked women’s basketball team, consistency wears No. 33 and goes by the name of Donya Anderson.
“Donya knows when she needs to score points, get a rebound or get a stop,” Bluejay coach Rusty Allen said. “She understands and is willing to do whatever it takes to win.
“Her consistency in shooting the ball and rebounding have been almost unbelievable in her career, not just this season. She’s a player I’ve always been able to count on.”
Anderson’s steady play, coupled with her desire to perform to those high standards was the impetus for the NAIA to recently name the All-American and two time all-Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference honoree the Division II National Women’s Player-of-the-Week.
The award came on the heels of victories over Saint Mary and McPherson, when the Ardmore, Okla., senior averaged 10.5 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the nation’s sixth-ranked team.
“When I found out I was the national player of the week, I thought that was pretty cool,” Anderson said. “But I couldn’t have done it without my teammates, definitely. I’ll be even more flattered if we keep on winning.”
Allen said Anderson took the award in stride.
“For her to win this award makes us all really proud,” he said. “The fact is, this award is a team award, and she is very humble and understands that.”
Winning is something Anderson and her teammates have become accustomed to since her arrival on the Hillsboro campus as a lightly recruited high school player from the Sooner State.
In her three-plus seasons with Tabor, the Bluejays have won an impressive 91 of 117 games (nearly 80 percent). That stretch has included a 24-game winning streak, a stretch of 42 consecutive KCAC victories, back-to-back conference titles and a pair of appearances at the NAIA National Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa.
‘A God-thing’
Anderson’s on-court talents were originally slated for a college in Oklahoma.
“Me coming to Tabor College was totally a God thing,” Anderson said. “I was going to go to Southeastern College, but the coach never called me back.”
It was former Tabor College golf coach Randy Keck who provided the eventual travel map Anderson needed to locate the Hillsboro campus-along with the help of his future wife, Cheryl, a schoolteacher at Ardmore who had befriended her.
When Anderson’s initial college plans failed to materialize, it was Cheryl Keck who steered her to Hillsboro.
“She told me about this great school she had found and said I needed to come see it,” said Anderson said, who admitted she’d never heard of Tabor before her meeting with Keck.
“I didn’t come up until July, when I scrimmaged with the team, and I was like, ‘Yea whatever,’ so I came.”
Allen said the first time he saw Anderson on the hardwoods, he was less than impressed, but during her freshman season, Allen realized what he had.
“I knew she was going to be a special player, although I didn’t know whether she’d grow emotionally and mentally enough to reach her potential-but there was never any doubt about her ability,” Allen said.
After a breakout freshman season that produced a team record of 18-12, Anderson became a mainstay on a team that went 25-6 overall, including a KCAC title with a 17-1 conference mark. In the process, Anderson earned All-KCAC honors.
Her junior year, Anderson and her teammates went 18-0 in the KCAC, 28-5 for the season made it to the NAIA’s Sweet 16 at Sioux City. Anderson was named first-team All-KCAC and received honorable mention as an All-American.
This season, her 12.3 points, nine rebounds and 2.5 steals per game rank Anderson among the top five in the KCAC in each category. She leads the conference in field-goal percentage (.554) and assists (5.4).
The Bluejays are currently 20-4 overall and 11-3 in the KCAC, which puts them two games behind front-running Sterling.
Anderson said her time spent with young students as an intern for Communities in Schools for Marion County reminded her that she is being watched on the basketball court.
“I want to prove to the younger kids that you can play rough, but you don’t have to play dirty,” she said. “You just need to keep your head in the game and be tough, yet respectful.”
A sociology major, Anderson’s plans beyond college include adoptive work or becoming a therapist.
“I want to get a job that I really love and stick with it for a long time,” she said. “I want to be consistent with that, too.”
