In her second season at the University of Idaho, Gina Marxen, sophomore point guard for women’s basketball, reached a milestone that could be the first of many.
On Feb. 6 against Montana State, Marxen made her 130th career three-pointer, moving her into the 10th all-time three-point scorer at Idaho.
“Hitting the milestone this early, I honestly had no idea I was even close, I didn’t know that was a thing,” Marxen said. “That was a surprise to me, but I’m excited to continuing to get better.”
Marxen passed Idaho hall of famer Emily Faurholt to move into the top ten.
Faurholt graduated in 2006 as the then all-time leading scorer in program history and averaged over 22 points a game.
Faurholt led NCAA Divison I in scoring in 2004, averaging over 25 points a game.
Marxen is beginning her rise into Idaho record books, possibly joining Faurholt as one of the greats of the program.
“(Marxen’s) growth has really been great between her two years,” Idaho Head Coach Jon Newlee said. “That’s exciting for me as a coach to think just how much better she can be by the time she’s a senior if she continues to put in the work.”
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Newlee said he frequently sees Marxen putting in extra time after practice and during the off-season, which has allowed her to become a key leader, even as a sophomore.
“(Marxen) is our leader out on the floor. People depend on her. She’s our rock offensively and defensively, she knows the plan, she follows it to the letter, she knows what she’s doing,” Newlee said. “Everybody feeds off of her … We’ll follow her lead and continue to get better every day.”
Already developing this level of play early in her career, Marxen’s ceiling as a shooter looks to be high.
Entering the top ten of the three-pointers made puts Marxen on the same list as her former teammates the Splash Sisters. She may possibly even join them near the top.
“I never even thought that it was even a possibility,” Marxen said. “Especially after players like Taylor (Pierce) and Mikayla (Ferenz) came into this program. Just being able to be even on a list with their names is quite an honor.”
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Marxen, arguably one of the most intracule parts of the offense, has been helping lead Idaho while being the best perimeter defender, according to Newlee.
“(Marxen) is our best defender on the ball and a great option for us offensively, and that’s all you can ask out of somebody,” Newlee said. “It goes right back to her work ethic, coachability and court sense … It’s amazing. (Marxen) understands the game and she knows exactly what I want out of her.”
The program’s mentality under Newlee remains the same: win the conference and make it to the NCAA Tournament.
After losing consecutive games for the first time since November, Marxen and the Vandals look to recalibrate and play their best basketball come March in Boise.
“After the losses, just learning from our mistakes, and it’s always been about getting that first-round bye in the (Big Sky) Tournament,” Marxen said. “Coach (Newlee) always says, ‘You don’t want to peak now, you want to play (your best) in the (NCAA) Tournament.’ But I think we’re okay. I’m excited to see how we progress and bounce back from these losses.”
Although reaching higher spots on these milestones might still be a while off, the goal remains of picking up another win in the Big Sky Conference.
Idaho heads on the road to play Eastern Washington at 5:00 p.m. Thursday in Cheney, Washington.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at arg-sports@uidaho.edu or on Twitter @kellogg_zack.