A Semiahmoo Secondary grad has netted her 1,000th point with the Washington State University women's basketball team.
Tara Wallack, now in her senior year with the WSU Cougars, got the milestone point with a basket vs. the St. Martin's Saints last Sunday (Dec. 15), a home game she and her team won 76-48.
The 6'2" hoops player was pleased with getting her 1000th point 鈥� she's the 23rd Cougar to do so, according to the university's X post.
"I knew I just needed one basket, so I was just like, 'Thank goodness,'" Wallack said Wednesday (Dec. 18) from San Diego, prior to a Thursday night (Dec. 19) game against the Toreros. "I'm proud of myself. It was one of my goals."
Although the South 性视界传媒 player's 2020 senior high school season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was named MVP of the senior girls provincial championship in her junior year, and played in 10 games for the Canadian national team at the U16 and U19 levels.
Since arriving at WSU, she's only gotten better each season. She started all 36 games with the Cougars last season, posting 19 double-digit scoring games to average 10.5 points per game. She also averaged 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.8 steals per game, shot 45.7 percent from the field (133-291) and 35.6 percent from beyond the arc (37-104), and ended her third year with the Cougars with 101 career blocks, tied for seventh in program history, the WSU website noted.
"I'm just so proud of Tara," WSU women's head coach Kamie Ethridge said at the press conference after Wallack's 1000th-point game.
"(She had) 500 rebounds too. Her development is pretty much off the charts. (She's a) great athlete... She's just gone through the process of building her game and getting better every single year. Last year I think she had a 2:1 assist turnover," Ethridge noted.
"She plays the game with poise, which really good players do ... she lets the game come to her," she continued, and praised Wallack's work ethic, and pointed out Wallack is the only senior on the current Cougars team.
Coming from an athletic background, Wallack will be happy to be back home on the Semiahmoo Peninsula to see her family for the holidays, albeit briefly.
"I'll be home for five days, but I actually have to fly out on Christmas Day," she said.
She's hoping to do the best she can in the year ahead, despite being in a different conference, so she and her team will be playing against different universities than they're used to.
"This year is just super special, and I'm so grateful to be here. I'm the only senior on my team, so there can be pressure, ... but I think I perform well under pressure," she shared. "It's super cool to go to different places, and play different teams I haven't before, and create new memories."
Having returned to her alma mater to lead a charity basketball camp last May, Wallack says it's something she hopes to continue in 2025, and beyond.
"I don't really know what next year will look like, but that is a goal of mine 鈥� to try to keep a consistent camp each year and donate it to a foundation or charity 鈥� so definitely that is something I'll be working towards again."
