An abrupt ending for Ferguson
Living a hard serve from the beach and steadily improving as a surfer, Courtney Ferguson loves life in Newport Beach.
The Mead grad said that, even though her reason for being in California – to play basketball at Irvine – has been less than a perfect ride. And that was before surgery a week ago to repair a ruptured patella tendon in her left knee.
“Basketball was good. I did it to the fullest,” she said. “I got everything out of it I wanted. It kind of (stinks) that it had to end this way. At the same time, OK, it’s over. Now I can be at peace with it.”
The injury derailed her final trip home – the Anteaters play at Idaho on Saturday – but considering all she has been through in her five years, she has no regrets. She started at St. Mary’s, signing when Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves was the head coach, but arriving after he left. One year of the new regime was enough. She relocated to Irvine because of family in the area.
Success was fleeting at Irvine, but even with less than a full year of school remaining she signed on for her fifth year, which included a December trip to play at Eastern Washington.
“I’m definitely happy,” Ferguson said at the time. “I’m glad I played my fifth year. I’m happy to play. I play for the love of the game more than anything else.”
Irvine has two wins, one in conference, and those came after coach Mark Adams resigned during the Christmas holidays.
“I think with the coaching thing, things have gotten better,” she said. “We were having four-hour practices. I think that’s why my knee gave out.”
The injury allowed Ferguson to drop two classes she only took to stay NCAA eligible with 12 credits. She is taking her final class to finish with a sociology major and computer design minor.
“I’ve had time to reflect,” she said. “I think everything happens for a reason, I’m just not sure of the reason yet. You have to make the best of situations in life. It happened, you can be mad at for a little while, but you have to get over it.”
The inactivity means she’ll get to watch her sister Adriane when Washington State plays at Southern Cal and UCLA next month.
In the meantime, she’s trying to figure out her future: grad school or coaching? Spokane area or elsewhere?
“When you go away you think about coming back,” Ferguson said. “I think you learn a lot when you go away from home … (and) you appreciate where you are from. I love Spokane … someday I’ll be back.”
Local watch
With Gonzaga and Eastern Washington on the road and Idaho playing at night, area fans can see the best team that will pass through the area. Fourth-ranked Stanford is at Washington State on Saturday. … WSU had 1,460 fans for the Washington game last weekend, the largest crowd since the UW game 13 years ago. … Arizona State sophomore Emily Westerberg, a Central Valley grad, had a career-high 14 rebounds last Thursday and a career-high 26 points last Saturday. She leads the Sun Devils in both departments (11.7 points, 4.9 rebounds).
Idaho starts a four-game homestand against Long Beach State, the only Big West team the Vandals didn’t beat last year. The 49ers have won seven straight and are off to their best start in 13 years. … There have been six 30-point games in the Big West this year by four players, including one each by Vandals Leilani Mitchell (33) and Emily Faurholt (32). They rank second (21.4) and fourth (17.1) in the league scoring race, respectively, with Faurholt fifth in the nation. Mitchell leads the conference in assists (5.31), steals (3.88, fifth in the nation) and 3-point percent (.469) … Brittany O’Neal, a freshman from Lewis and Clark, has left Idaho and is playing at Community Colleges of Spokane.
Eastern Washington is 10-55 all-time against Montana and has lost 12 straight. The last time the Eagles won in Missoula was in the 1986-87 season.
Holding the nation’s longest winning streak at 13 games, Gonzaga completes the first half of the West Coast Conference schedule against last-place Portland on Saturday. The Zags have a two-game lead, winning their six WCC games by an average of 21 points a game. … The Zags are 15th in the country in defense (53.5 points allowed) and fourth in assists (18.8). GU coach Kelly Graves, who was 5-23 in his first season with the Zags, has a 69-67 record at the school.