Bemidji State University women’s basketball head coach Mike Curfman has announced the signing of Rainy River Community College sophomore guard LaNae Rash from Milwaukee, Wis., to join the Beavers.
The transfer of the Voyageurs’ leading scorer from last season makes four additions to BSU women’s basketball for 2012-13.
Curfman also signed Melissa Youngblut (forward, Davenport, Iowa) last month and Emily Reichert (guard, Rogers) and Rachel Valley (forward, Albertville) during the early signing period.
“With the addition (of) LaNae, I believe we are adding someone that is able to contribute on both ends of the floor,” Curfman said. “There is no doubt that she has...the ability to be an offensive threat and provide a scoring punch, while helping us to get defensive stops, which is an area of needed improvement. I like her flexibility to play multiple positions, including all three guard spots.
“I’m very excited about this recruiting class and think they will make an immediate impact on our program.”
In 16 games for RRCC this past season, Rash totaled 459 points for a 28.7-points-per-game average. The point guard also averaged 10.3 rebounds, 5.9 steals and 4.6 assists per game and shot 45 percent from the field.
She scored 20 or more points in 15 of 16 games, while totaling 30 or more points on eight occasions.
“Getting a full-ride (scholarship) to a Division II school is quite an accomplishment,” said RRCC women’s basketball coach Dieter Humbert. “It certainly is a great reflection on her teammates and the program, so we’re real proud of her and just going to be excited to follow her (at BSU).”
Prior to coming to RRCC, Rash played her freshman season in 2009-10 at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Rash also played high school basketball at Rufus King in Milwaukee, where she scored more than 1,000 career points.
The Beavers closed out the 2011-12 season with a record of 9-18 overall and a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference record of 7-15 to finish 11th in the league standings. BSU graduated just two seniors from this past season.
