That Next Step Is A Monster State B Girls Face Long Odds At Division I Schools

At 6-foot-4, she was ahead of the competition during her State B tournament days.

As a senior at Oregon State University, Sissel Pierce still is on top of her game.

Pierce, of the 1995 Wishkah Valley state championship team, beat the odds and jumped from the small schools to NCAA Division I, the highest caliber of college basketball. Originally she signed with Montana State, but changed her mind to follow former Bobcat coach Judy Spoelstra to Oregon State. The Beavers (13-13) are having their best season in years and Pierce has been a big part of the turnaround. Just last weekend, she scored a game-high 21 points as the Beavers upset then-No. 22 UCLA to move their way closer to a postseason tournament.

Pierce is averaging 12.1 points and 6.5 rebounds game. She’s also second in the country with 2.9 blocked shots per game.

But she’s the small-school exception.

“It is almost impossible to get a scholarship being a B player,” Pierce said during the Beavers’ yearly stop at Washington State University. “Me, Tricia Lamb, we were the lucky ones.”

Both Lamb and her St. John-Endicott teammate, Andee Schmick, played Division I basketball. Basketball and volleyball standout Jennifer Stinson of Davenport and St. George’s Kari Hutchinson are two others who made the cut. Most recently, there’s Anne Bickelhaupt, last year’s star from Waitsburg, who is a redshirt freshman at Gonzaga University.

This year’s most sought-after player is 6-foot-3 Carrie Spencer, a senior from Napavine with 2,309 career points. Just like the B’s best in the past, Spencer signed early with Portland State.

But two other players to watch are St. George’s 5-3 point guard Wenchi Liu and 5-9 forward Alyssa Henley. They’re certain to play somewhere next year, perhaps at Division III Whitworth, Puget Sound or Willamette.

Hutchinson, a starter on the Dragons’ 1994 state championship team who went on to play at Notre Dame when the Irish made the final four (1997) and Sweet 16 (1998), is convinced these two are special.

“I’ve heard there’s (Division I) interest,” said Hutchinson, now a graduate assistant coach at Gonzaga. “Wenchi has so much potential. That’s all I’ll say about it.”

But she did have more to say about her favorite high school classification.

“I’m get really defensive as a B player because I don’t think they get enough credit. There is a stereotype that B basketball is not as competitive, but I know St. George’s has been.”

Pierce and Hutchinson have this advice to ambitious B players: “They’ve got to play summer basketball,” Pierce said. “That’s the biggest key to any success. You get to play with different players. You get different competition, different coaches. You go and experience a lot more.”

Added Hutchinson: “I played (AAU) since I was 12. It’s a great way to get exposure in a sport where the girls are getting better and better.”