W. BASKETBALL: DuBose Ready to 'Just Play'
1/11/2014 9:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. – The path to 1,000-career points has been a long, arduous road for Georgia Southern's MiMi DuBose.
An injury in high school and another that forced her to redshirt her freshman season at GSU impeded her basketball career. A coaching change prior to her junior season threw another piece of adversity on the pile.
She responded to all of it by doing what she always does – battling and fighting and working her tail off, not ever certain what the final outcome would be.
So DuBose, a fifth-year senior who earned her undergraduate degree last May, was in a familiar place last Saturday in a game against Chattanooga in The McKenzie Arena – at the foul line. There, she calmly sank two free throws, her 12th and 13th points of the game, which put her over 1,000 for her career.
"If you would have told me five years ago I'd get to this point, I probably would have laughed at you," she says. "I'm more than grateful, more importantly, to my teammates and to the coaches – you know this coaching staff didn't have any loyalty to us when they got here and they have been more than loyal to all of us – so I owe a big thank you to all of them and my teammates more than anything."
Known primarily as a shooter coming out of high school, DuBose has continued to develop her game at Georgia Southern. In the last two years especially, she has learned to attack the basket effectively. She had 116 attempts at the free-throw line last season, where she shot 80 percent as she led the Eagles in scoring with 12.4 points a game. Halfway through this season, she has attempted 60 free throws and makes 82 percent.
"At the college level, everybody knows what you want to do and exactly how you want to do it so it's hard a lot of times to get open shots, no matter how hard you work or how hard your teammates work to get you open," she says. "I've tried to add the attacking part of my game so that I'm harder to guard."
In front of a large group of family and friends, DuBose will be presented with a commemorative ball prior to the Eagles' home game against UNCG, which is slated to tip off at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Hanner Fieldhouse. It will be fitting for her and her family that it's also Alumni Day, and her sister Lee, who played for the Eagles from 2002-06, will be recognized at halftime.
A great shooter in her own right, Lee graduated as the third-leading 3-point shooter in school history. Now, thanks to MiMi, she ranks fourth while her younger sibling is just seven 3-point makes from first and yet another milestone.
Are there bragging rights?
"There are, but I try not to brag to her," MiMi says with a smile. "We are very different, but she was such a good player here at Georgia Southern. And she's told me since day one that if she wanted anyone to pass her, it'd be me. Definitely five years down the road, I'll be bragging and picking at her, I'm sure."
As the 1,000-point mark loomed earlier this season, DuBose found herself struggling a bit with her shot. She found other ways to help her team during the stretch, but one could certainly understand that a tiny feeling of relief exists along with the emotions of exhilaration.
"That's one of those things – it's such a great accomplishment to get there – but once you get closer and closer, you're kind of just ready for it to be over so it's not in the back of your mind, and you can just play," DuBose says. "It's a big deal and I'm excited, and I know 10 years from now, I'll be proud of myself for sticking it out and getting to that point, but I'm kind of glad that it's over."
The horn ending warm-ups will sound on Saturday, and DuBose will head over to center court, where she will be joined by women's basketball coach Chris Vozab and Director of Athletics Tom Kleinlein. A ball will be presented, photographs will be taken and a standing ovation will be offered.
And then it's time to just play.
An injury in high school and another that forced her to redshirt her freshman season at GSU impeded her basketball career. A coaching change prior to her junior season threw another piece of adversity on the pile.
She responded to all of it by doing what she always does – battling and fighting and working her tail off, not ever certain what the final outcome would be.
So DuBose, a fifth-year senior who earned her undergraduate degree last May, was in a familiar place last Saturday in a game against Chattanooga in The McKenzie Arena – at the foul line. There, she calmly sank two free throws, her 12th and 13th points of the game, which put her over 1,000 for her career.
"If you would have told me five years ago I'd get to this point, I probably would have laughed at you," she says. "I'm more than grateful, more importantly, to my teammates and to the coaches – you know this coaching staff didn't have any loyalty to us when they got here and they have been more than loyal to all of us – so I owe a big thank you to all of them and my teammates more than anything."
Known primarily as a shooter coming out of high school, DuBose has continued to develop her game at Georgia Southern. In the last two years especially, she has learned to attack the basket effectively. She had 116 attempts at the free-throw line last season, where she shot 80 percent as she led the Eagles in scoring with 12.4 points a game. Halfway through this season, she has attempted 60 free throws and makes 82 percent.
"At the college level, everybody knows what you want to do and exactly how you want to do it so it's hard a lot of times to get open shots, no matter how hard you work or how hard your teammates work to get you open," she says. "I've tried to add the attacking part of my game so that I'm harder to guard."
In front of a large group of family and friends, DuBose will be presented with a commemorative ball prior to the Eagles' home game against UNCG, which is slated to tip off at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Hanner Fieldhouse. It will be fitting for her and her family that it's also Alumni Day, and her sister Lee, who played for the Eagles from 2002-06, will be recognized at halftime.
A great shooter in her own right, Lee graduated as the third-leading 3-point shooter in school history. Now, thanks to MiMi, she ranks fourth while her younger sibling is just seven 3-point makes from first and yet another milestone.
Are there bragging rights?
"There are, but I try not to brag to her," MiMi says with a smile. "We are very different, but she was such a good player here at Georgia Southern. And she's told me since day one that if she wanted anyone to pass her, it'd be me. Definitely five years down the road, I'll be bragging and picking at her, I'm sure."
As the 1,000-point mark loomed earlier this season, DuBose found herself struggling a bit with her shot. She found other ways to help her team during the stretch, but one could certainly understand that a tiny feeling of relief exists along with the emotions of exhilaration.
"That's one of those things – it's such a great accomplishment to get there – but once you get closer and closer, you're kind of just ready for it to be over so it's not in the back of your mind, and you can just play," DuBose says. "It's a big deal and I'm excited, and I know 10 years from now, I'll be proud of myself for sticking it out and getting to that point, but I'm kind of glad that it's over."
The horn ending warm-ups will sound on Saturday, and DuBose will head over to center court, where she will be joined by women's basketball coach Chris Vozab and Director of Athletics Tom Kleinlein. A ball will be presented, photographs will be taken and a standing ovation will be offered.
And then it's time to just play.
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