Saturday’s game against Hawaii will be the last of the regular season for Idaho women’s basketball and last home game for seniors Keri Arendse, Adrie Shiels and Ganeaya Rogers.
All three share similar stories — they all went the junior college route before coming to Idaho, and coach Jon Newlee said it’s odd not to have any four-year seniors, but said the trio has had a positive impact on the program.
“It’s kind of an unusual senior group because it’s three seniors who were all junior college transfers,” Newlee said. ” … All three of them have really come in and contributed to what we’ve done this year in a big time way and hopefully we can send them out on a big note.”
Keri Arendse
Arendse, a Burlington, Wash., native played in every game for Idaho since transferring last year. She attended Skagit Valley College out of high school where she was a team captain and averaged 15.5 points per game.
Arendse decided to attend Idaho late the summer before her junior year and said it was the right choice.
“It was late in the summer and I came and visited. I hadn’t met any of the team yet and I didn’t really know what to expect, but it turned out really good,” Arendse said.
In her senior season at Idaho Arendse averages 8.8 points per game and leads the team in steals. Last season Arendse played point guard due to depth issues but, the addition of freshman Krissy Karr allowed Arendse to spend her final season in her comfort zone at shooting guard. Newlee said the change has done wonders for Arendse.
“Last year — Keri starting at the point — it wasn’t a position she was comfortable with. In junior college she was more of s a shooting guard,” Newlee said. “This year playing her more natural spot, you can see the difference in her play. She’s just had a fantastic year.”
Arendse is majoring in human resources and management.
Adrie Shiels
Shiels hails from Canberra, Australia. She came to the U.S. and began her college career at Midland College where she helped the team to a 30-2 record and a Western Junior College Athletic Conference championship.
Shiels said her time in the U.S. has been a positive experience.
“It’s really become like another home for me,” Shiels said. “I’ve spent four years over here total, two at the junior college and up here. The small community has really been nice, kind of like a home feeling. It’s not that different living-wise.”
Shiels had to sit out a large part of her junior year at Idaho due to a shoulder injury. In her senior campaign she’s been solid off the bench, averaging 3.8 points per contest.
Shiels is majoring in exercise science, but said she might stay another year at Idaho to get a second degree in psychology.
Ganeaya Rogers
Rogers is from Milpitas, Calif., and attended Ohlone Junior College out of high school. She earned all-conference honors as a freshman, but had to sit out the next season with a medical redshirt. She returned and was a co-MVP in the Coast Conference South Division in 2010.
Rogers played in every game since transferring to Idaho. This year she’s averaging 8.4 points per game and is second on the team in assists.
Newlee said Rogers’ game this season has drastically improved from her first year at Idaho.
“She’s much more comfortable this year handling the ball, starting every game, scoring the basketball and doing the things we thought she could do coming in,” Newlee said.
Rogers said the prospect of playing her last game is not distracting her from the team’s overall goal.
“Our team is just focusing on beating San Jose and Hawaii to get a better position in the tournament,” Rogers said.
Tipoff is at 2 p.m. Saturday in Cowan Spectrum.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]