April 29, 2009
With her never quit mindset and intense work ethic, Agnija Reke provided the Lady Cardinals a consistent presence at the guard position during her two seasons on the floor. Reke will be honored on Wednesday night, April 29th along with fellow seniors Emily Spickler and Nikki Williams at the Lady Cardinal women's basketball banquet.
Reke, who played a key role off the bench for the Lady Cardinals during her junior season, started 21 games as a senior. The move to the starting lineup gave LU a steady hand at the point guard position, as the senior ran the offense seamlessly for the first two thirds of the season.
When head coach Larry Tidwell made an adjustment to the starting lineup, inserting forward Trashanna Smith into the starter role to give the Lady Cards more of a post presence, Reke handled the switch without a hiccup. She became the sixth man for Lamar, and gave them a much needed energy boost from off the bench.
"Agnija stepped on this campus and done everything we've asked of her from day one," Tidwell said. "Whether it was to play defense or run the point, she did it with a great attitude. Just like Emily and Nikki, she is without a question a first class young lady and she'll be sorely missed by the Lady Cardinals basketball program."
On several occasions, after moving to the bench midway through the Southland Conference schedule, Reke provided Lamar with some of her most outstanding performances of the year. She dished out a career-high nine assists against Stephen F. Austin on February 7, and a week later she scored seven points at Texas State including a big three pointer midway through the second half.
Reke's ability to adjust to any situation was one of the biggest factors for the Lady Cardinals success during the last two years. It was also something she knew she'd have to do.
"Coming from junior college it was a little different," Reke said. "At first I wasn't sure what to expect or what the coaches wanted. As an upperclassmen though, I knew we were expected to be leaders. I think we did a good job showing the younger players what is expected of them."
In addition to her clutch play regardless of the situation, Reke was also one of the top distributors in the conference this season, dishing out 122 assists. The 122 helpers ranked fifth in the SLC and is tied for the eighth-most in a LU single season history with current associate head coach Sondra Ancelot-Lundvick.
For her career she passed out 188 assists, which is tied for ninth all time with LaToya Carson.
"It's nice to get my name in the record books," she said. "I wish I could have played all four years here so I could have passed out more assists."
With her college career now behind her, Reke looks forward to continuing her play on the courts over seas.
"I'm going to go back to Europe to play basketball and make money," she said. "I'll have my degree, so pro ball seems like the logical next step."
