Sports Spotlight
Women's basketball team enjoys unprecedented success
One of strongest recruits in three years gives Albion much-needed big-time post play

February 20, 2004
by Jake Lloyd
Sports Editor

Sitting in a Wesley Hall study lounge talking about her basketball career, player Ruthie Sventickas, Livonia first-year, was about as relaxed as can be. She laughed and joked about things such as her poor free-throw shooting.

On the court, however, she’s another story. Sventickas, besides being nervous at the beginning of games, is an intense competitor who plays with a lot of energy.

She also is a unique player in that her favorite part of basketball is playing defense. She loves nothing more than to block an opposing player’s shot before going down and scoring on them at the other end of the court. Sventickas enters each game with a goal of outscoring, out-rebounding and outworking her opponent.

This is just one of the reasons Albion’s women’s basketball coach Doreen Belkowski has loved Sventickas’ game since she recruited her out of Ladywood High School in Livonia.

“I think her desire to win is one of her strong suits,” Belkowski said. “It’s something she needs to bring to every game, but I think her being on the court makes everyone else feel a little more comfortable.”

Through 24 games, Sventickas, who has been in the starting lineup since Albion’s ninth game, was averaging 9.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, second and third best on the team, respectively.

Sventickas even has developed a stroke from the outside—a shot she needs to be able to shoot in Albion’s high-low offense--despite not attempting a single three-pointer during her four years on the varsity high school team. She was 9-of-25 and 36 percent from behind the arc through all 24 games.

Sventickas’ presence down low—she is the Britons’ tallest player at 6-foot-1—also has freed up outside shooters for more open looks.

“Having a go-to post player helps open up the outside for the guards,” said guard Sarah Caskey, Stockbridge junior, who has been on fire from behind the arc of late. “She is a good enough basketball player that if she is double-teamed, she will kick it out to a guard. If she isn’t double-teamed, then she will take it to the hole and look to score.

“At first she seemed a little timid, but now if someone was to watch her, you wouldn’t be able to guess she is a freshman.”

Coming in this fall, Sventickas expected her first year to be a learning experience. She never thought she would find herself in the starting lineup in just her ninth game as a college player.

And Sventickas played like an overly eager newcomer. She was so excited that she rushed shots and was frustrated from the get-go. She finished the game, against Lake Erie, 2-of-11 from the field for seven points.

“My first game I was very nervous,” Sventickas said. “I had butterflies in my stomach the entire time.”

Once her first start was history, Sventickas was back to being the player she usually is. In Albion’s next game, at four-time defending Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) champion Hope, she led the Britons with 18 points, including two three-pointers, and seven rebounds in 31 minutes of action.

As soon as Sventickas signed with Albion, Belkowski knew she had gotten one of her best recruits in her three years at the school. Ladywood is a perennial women’s basketball powerhouse—Sventickas went to the regional final three out of four years—and Belkowski could see Sventickas’ winning attitude.

“She knows what it takes to win because she comes from a winning program,” Belkowski said. “When I recruited her she was one of those players that we knew was going to come in and be an impact player.”

Belkowski actually had to battle MIAA rival Kalamazoo for Sventickas. But Sventickas liked everything she saw when she visited Albion and felt at home, compared to her visit to Kalamazoo, and Belkowski could breathe a little easier.

“It was huge for us,” Belkowski said. “It was just fortunate. It would have totally hurt us if she didn’t come here, and they would have added to their other two post players that they have that are playing really well.”

However, Sventickas still was deciding between Albion and Michigan State. She was considering attending MSU and not playing basketball.

In the end, though, she chose Albion. “I just couldn’t give up basketball,” Sventickas said. “My team is my second family.

It’d be safe to say the Albion team is happy to have her as part of its family.