Rookie reaches new heights

Shelby Kurt lives for basketball.

The Golden Hawks’ outstanding rookie forward was named the Ontario University Athletics’ (OUA) female athlete of the week on Jan. 9, having scored 19 points and four rebounds in a game against Brock on Jan. 7. Kurt helped lead the team to a 77-69 victory, their second of the week.

“My team works really hard,” said Kurt, who maintains she can’t take the credit for the team’s wins. “I probably wouldn’t be named [OUA female athlete of the week] if I didn’t have my teammates.”

Most recently, Kurt threw eight points up on the board in a 75-69 road victory against the University of Guelph on Wednesday night. She also tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven.

Scoring an average of 11.7 points per game and sitting second in team scoring with 148 points in 13 games, just 12 points behind leader Felicia Mazerolle, the first-year psychology major loves the sport she plays.

“I’ve played basketball my whole life pretty much. Basketball is a huge thing in my family,” she said.

Growing up in Waterloo, one of the joys of playing basketball at Laurier for the six-foot-one forward is having her parents and sister come out and watch the games.

Coming off a recent four-game winning streak, the Laurier women lost to Lakehead on Jan. 14.

That doesn’t deter Kurt, who hopes to see her team, who sit third in the west, reach the playoffs this season.

“If we really play hard then we can go forward this season and hopefully make it to regionals and hopefully make it to nationals,” she said.

Kurt, who hopes to continue playing basketball for her four years at Laurier, thinks basketball is a great form of exercise.

“It keeps me healthy. You meet a lot of great people when you’re on a team and it’s fun for me,” she said.

Not entirely sure what her plans for the future might involve, Kurt hopes to get into something in the medical field when she is finished with school.

For now, she is just enjoying her OUA success.

“It’s definitely a huge accomplishment for me. It made me happy.”