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Jan. 11, 2008

By Stephen Zerdelian
Special to CSTV.com

How many players can you name that lead their team in scoring, rebounding and assists? Plenty? How about adding in three-pointers made and free-throw percentage? Still a few left? Well, what about including blocked shots and steals? There's more to this thread but you get the idea; we're in a rarified group of young women. This is the sort of exclusive company in which West Texas A&M guard Emily Brister resides. And she's just a junior, with lots more time to torment helpless opponents.

The numbers really add up quickly when assessing Brister, a native of nearby Amarillo. She leads the Lady Buffs in scoring at almost 23 points a game, about double her closest teammate. Even at 5-foot-9, Brister leads the squad by pulling in 7.5 rebounds a contest and she somehow finds the time to dish out nearly three assists a game. It's not as if she takes poor shots, as she sinks 49 percent of her attempts overall and nearly 40 percent from three-point land. Sending Brister to the foul line is not a picnic, either, as she cans 89 percent from there. So how did such a steady, often spectacular, player end up at West Texas A&M?

Proximity played a role in Brister's choice, as did the Lady Buffs' sparkling history.

"It's close to home, which was a big draw, but I also knew how great the program was and still is," said Brister, who considered some Division I schools. "I figured I might not be able to find a Division I school where I could play right away, or that if I did it might not be at a school where we have a legitimate chance to compete for the national title. West Texas A&M provides that and more, so I'm very happy here."

One striking feature of Brister's game is the consistency she displays. In 11 games this year she has led the team in scoring ten times, with only two of the final point totals below 20. The one game in which somebody other than Brister led WTAMU in scoring saw Jamie Dreiling tally 21 points against Harding, while Brister added 20. Last season Brister led the team in scoring 26 times in 33 games, so this trend is anything but new. But according to her, there's still much to work on.

"I'm not really as athletic as some other players, so sometimes I feel like my shooting and defense isn't what I want," Brister said. "I try to work very hard and stay after practice to shoot a lot. I'd like to think I play with a lot of heart and hustle."

Among her notable efforts stands this year's performance at Northeastern State on December 8. In the Lady Buffs' 66-60 overtime win, Brister scored more than half of her team's points (34, the fourth-highest total of her career) and stuck two free throws with four seconds left to send the game to OT. She played 42 of the 45 minutes, shooting 10-18 from the floor (3-6 3FG) and converting 11-11 at the line.

The Lady Buffs' beefed-up non-league schedule this year is designed to prep the team for the rigors of the Lone Star Conference as well as (hopefully) the NCAA tournament. It also serves to showcase Brister to some discerning - and impressed - eyes.

Drury head coach Steve Harold, a man who knows talent when he sees it having coached All-American guard Rachel Reddick the last four years at Glenville State, was certainly impressed by Brister. "She's a versatile and multi-talented player," Harold said. "I know she gets a lot of notice for her scoring but Brister is a very solid defensive player and handles the ball well. She's one of the very best players I have seen at this level in my 13 years of coaching and she's also a humble young lady."

As a freshman in 2005-'06, Brister won the Lone Star Conference South Division Player of the Year award along with the LSC Freshman of the Year trophy, thanks to averaging 21 points a game. Last year, Brister picked up an arm-load of awards while scoring 23 points a game, including another LSC South Player of the Year award and WBCA honorable mention All-American honors.

Brister started playing the game at age seven and has been opening eyes ever since. Although she also played soccer, volleyball and ran track, basketball came into focus quickly for Brister and it has kept her in the spotlight. Basketball does not take up all of Brister's time, though - academics play a large part in her life. As an EC-4 bilingual major, she's been highly decorated to date. Her major, focusing on bilingual elementary education, feeds into her love of children and her desire to work with them in the future. In 2006-'07, she was named as the Lone Star South Division Academic Player of the Year as well as being named as an Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar.

There was more than a little notice of Brister's play entering this season; Division II Bulletin, a national publication, tabbed her as its pre-season Player of the Year, a rare accolade for a junior. Gary Rubin, the publication's editor, described the honor by saying, "Emily had a break-out year last season and proved that she is one of the top players at the Division II level. There were several outstanding candidates, but we felt Emily's attributes made her the front-runner."

"She's a special young lady," said her WTAMU coach, Krista Gerlich. "Emily is really self-made in a way; she works her tail off and finds a way to get things done on the floor. As a player she's in continual motion and understands the game well. What you see is what you get with Emily. She just produces in every situation."

Gerlich, a woman who has seen more than her share of excellent players, was wowed by Brister when she took over the program prior to last season.

"She's a terrific player, probably one of the best clutch players I've ever seen," Gerlich said, and her opinion means more than that of just a coach doting on her player.

Gerlich was a member of Texas Tech's 1993 NCAA Division I championship team, the team made famous by Sheryl Swoopes. And it's not as if Gerlich was a bystander; she was an All-Southwest Conference choice three times and eventually saw her number (21) retired by the institution, one of only three players in the women's basketball program to have received that particular honor.

Gerlich was named WTAMU head coach before the 2006-'07 season. Whatever adjustment period there was proved brief, as she led the Lady Buffs to a 28-5 record, including a perfect 14-0 Lone Star Conference South Division mark. Though WTAMU lost in the South Central regional of the NCAA Division II tournament, Gerlich proved her capacity as a coach.

While happy to see Brister at WTAMU when she got there, Gerlich was somewhat surprised at just how proficient she had become.

"I knew of Emily while I was at Texas Tech as an assistant," Gerlich said. "I'd even recruited a player on her AAU team for TTU, so I was able to keep an eye on her once she got to West Texas. But I was really impressed at how she had worked so hard in those years [between high school and early in college], making herself into such a great all-around player."

Already fourth on the all-time WTAMU scoring list (1,683 points), Brister is well within range of all-time leader Celeste Stevenson (1,988 points). At her current rate, she figures to zip past Stevenson and over the 2000-point plateau by the end of the regular season.

Naturally, there will be plenty of other records in her back pocket by then, but despite the statistics, it's all about winning for Brister. As a Lady Buff, Brister sports a spiffy 64-12 record with the promise of many more victories. As she puts it, "My favorite moment in basketball is the end, after we win."

Sounds like a real tonic for opponents, right? Brister, a young lady who has seen more than her share of those golden moments, should be able to bask in the glow of self-made success for the foreseeable future.