Szczokin recognized before the game for reaching 1000 career points; becoming highest scoring guard in team history
Natsuki Szczokin doesn’t have many performances left to put on for the crowd at Montpetit Hall at the University of Ottawa. The star point guard’s spectacular career in a Gee-Gees uniform is coming to a close — but the fifth-year is saving the best for last.
And that’s not just a cliché. Best performances are usually debatable in sports, especially when your career seems to be full of them — but when you drop a career-high 30 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the floor, dish seven rebounds, grab five rebounds, and snag six steals — it becomes less so.
Szczokin’s career performance came Friday night, as the Gee-Gees welcomed the sputtering Nipissing Lakers to town, one week after travelling to North Bay and defeating them 91-51. Led by Szczokin’s 30, the Gee-Gees easily dispatched the Lakers, 79-47.
Before the game, the 5’6” guard was recognized for scoring her 1000th career point, and was presented with a commemorative framed picture by Gees head coach Rose-Anne Joly and her father, who made the trip from Barrie.
“I’m so happy, because her dad wasn’t going to make the trip,” Joly said after the game. “Then I convinced him last weekend to come, so I’m so happy that he was there to witness it.”
Szczokin exited Friday’s game ranked fifth in the OUA in points per game (16.5), first in assists per game (5.0), and first in steals per game (4.1). The point guard is always looking for her teammates — on and off the court.
22 seconds into the game, Szczokin grabbed a steal off a lazy pass under the Gee-Gees basket, carried the ball up the floor, and dished to wide open second-year forward Victoria Brideau for her first of seven assists on the night.
“I think it all just comes down to the team, and my teammates especially, knowing that we have each others backs,” said Szczokin postgame. “It really relieves that pressure when you know that 18 players are behind you, I think it was a great game.”
Szczokin would finish three-of-five from behind the arc on the night — an encouraging sign for the guard as the team looks ahead to playoffs. Szczokin’s 26.3 per cent three-point percentage on the season is the lowest since her rookie season.
Joly credited her efficiency to her confidence coming back. “Last weekend, she forgot that she has a killer pull-up [from the] middle of the key. She started using it again today, so I think once she has that going, then the threes are going in … but it’s Natsuki, she’s going to hit those.”
Meanwhile, on the defensive side, the speedy Szczokin is leading the entire country — men’s and women’s — in steals, as she picked up six steals Friday night for the third game in a row.
“I think it being my last year, and knowing it’s my last few games, it’s really put a different perspective on me,” said Szczokin. “Knowing it’s the last time I’ll play this team … it does have an effect on how I play.”
The Gee-Gees will welcome the 4-12 Laurentian Voyageurs to Montpetit at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon. But the soft part of the Gee-Gees schedule ends there — next Friday, it’s the 12-2 Queen’s Gaels coming to Ottawa.
“It was definitely a feel-good game today,” said Szczokin. “We haven’t played at home in such a long time, and it also felt good [to be] in our own room, playing in our own gym, our own fans, family, friends here to support … it really does prepare us for our upcoming games, because it really gave us motivation, more energy, and we’re really excited for the next few games coming up.”
