The 2008-2009 season was an extremely successful campaign for the UW-Parkside women’s basketball program. The six incoming student-athletes who will be joining the program in the fall also enjoyed great years, adding to the already high-level of excitement for the 2009-2010 season.
Kelley Hendrick (Naperville, Ill.), Karisa Laskowski (Pulaski, Wis.), Cheryl Leyns (Greendale, Wis.), Carly Prokup (Spring Valley, Ill.), Kristen Ruchti (Brodhead, Wis.), and Kiah Simon (Algoma, Wis.) recently completed their high school careers after signing with the Rangers in November.
Kelley Hendrick was named second team all-state by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association after leading Naperville Central to the DuPage Valley Conference championship and a 20-win season. She was a unanimous all-conference selection for the third straight year.
The 5’6” point guard averaged 16.3 points, 4.5 assists, 4.3 steals and 4.1 rebounds per game in being named the Naperville Sun Player of the Year, and to the Daily Herald all-area team for the second straight year. She leaves Naperville Central as the third leading scorer in school history (1,437 points), a list headed by WBNA star Candace Parker. Hendrick also graduates as the school’s all-time leader in career three-pointers (158) and three-pointers made in a season (71).
Karisa Laskowski completed her career at Pulaski High School by leading the Red Raiders to a 19-3 record, their best conference season this decade (16-1), and a top-10 ranking in Division I. The do-it-all forward averaged 7.4 points and 4.9 rebounds in being named first team All-Fox River Classic Conference for the second straight year.
Laskowski ended her career sixth on the school’s career scoring, rebounding, and assists charts as well. She is ranked number one academically in her graduating class with a 4.0 grade point average.
Cheryl Leyns had her season cut short after just six games with a knee injury that forced her to miss the rest of the season. She averaged 20.8 points and 12.8 rebounds per game before suffering the injury; the third straight year she has averaged a double-double. Despite playing in just six games she was named honorable mention all-conference, her third year in a row being honored by the conference.
Leyns finishes as Martin Luther High School’s second all-time leading rebounder and fourth on the school’s career scoring list.
Carly Prokup was also named second team all-state by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association after averaging 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game for Hall High School in Spring Valley, Ill. The 5’9” guard helped lead Hall to an undefeated North Central Illinois Conference Championship and was a first team all-conference pick for the second time.
Prokup was named to four publications all-area teams and graduates as the third highest scorer in Hall High School history.
Kristen Ruchti is the fourth incoming recruit to lead her team to a conference championship as she helped Brodhead High School to the Rock Valley Conference South Division crown. Ruchti averaged 13.4 points and 7.6 rebounds in being named first team all-conference for the third straight year.
The 6’2” post player was also named to the Wisconsin State Journal and Beloit Daily News all-area teams. She will be competing in the WBCA All-Star Games on June 20th in Madison.
Kiah Simon will join the Rangers after leading Algoma High School to a 22-1 record and the school’s third straight conference championship. She was named honorable mention all-state by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association as well as the Packerland Conference Co-Player of the Year. The 6’1” post player led the Packerland in scoring (16.3 ppg.) and finished third in rebounding (7.9 rpg).
Simon leaves Algoma as the school’s second all-time leading scorer (1,337 points) and rebounder. She will join Ruchti in playing in the WBCA All-Star Games in Madison.
“We can’t wait for this group to get here and begin their careers,” said assistant coach, Brad Fischer. “We feel this class is defined by their work ethics and their desire to continually improve themselves. They have all achieved a lot of success on the court, but are also outstanding students. This is probably the deepest recruiting class we’ve had here and we’re excited to see the impact they make on our program.”
Name PPG RPG APG SPG
Kelley Hendrick 16.3 4.1 4.5 4.3 2nd team all-state/3-time all-conference
Karisa Laskowski 7.6 4.9 1.8 1.3 1st team all-state/2-time all-conference
Cheryl Leyns 20.8 12.8 1.3 4.0 played in 6 games (injury)/3-time all-conference
Carly Prokup 12.5 7.0 3.0 2.0 2nd team all-state/2-time all-conference
Kristen Ruchti 13.4 7.6 2.5 1.9 1st team all-conference/WBCA all-star
Kiah Simon 16.3 7.9 2.0 1.7 h.m. all-state/league POY/WBCA all-star