An accolade such as 1,000 points after only 2 1/2 basketball seasons in addition to receiving the Logger of the Week award three weeks in a row is a tremendous accomplishment as a one sport student-athlete, and even more incredible as a two-sport student-athlete. Jamie Lange, a senior from Sumner, Washington, is a four-year women’s soccer and basketball player for the Loggers. She has received numerous individual and overall team accomplishments in both sports.
Lange had a late start to the basketball season compared to her teammates because of the success of the women’s soccer team. After she got settled and back into the mindset of basketball, she took off.
Lange describes her transition from soccer to basketball to be much smoother than previous seasons: “I started to do basketball conditioning at the end of the soccer season, which helped my muscles adjust quicker! The last two years, I’ve pulled my quad early on because the transition happened to fast or too sudden. It’s always hard to jump in while everyone has been there for a month, but after a couple of learning curves, I fit right in,” Lange said.
Lange leads the Loggers in the most points per game and is ranked third overall in Northwest Conference. Additionally, she is second in the Northwest Conference for rebounds per game.
Lange’s basketball coach, Coach Kushiyama, describes different influences on Lange’s game: “She has begun to trust her footwork and fundamentals, her focus changed, and she became less frustrated. From a play sheet standpoint we limited the number of calls we were making and allowed her to be her. She simplified things on the court and was more patient.”
Other than being a great athlete, she is recognized as a strong leader on the court. Lange was one of the senior captains for the soccer team as well as for the basketball team.
Teammate Elizabeth Prewitt describes her leadership style on the court: “She provides a strong and clear voice while also being a strong and dominating player. She is willing to hold teammates accountable, but also be right there to pick them up and fully support them. She is the type of player who makes everyone on her team and those she plays against a better player.”
Coach Kushiyama gave a similar statement to Prewitt by saying that things that stand out about Lange as a player are “her dominance, strong leadership … and she holds everyone accountable.”
Although Lange is constantly around a ball, she continues to have the ability to drive towards excellence. When asked what helped her the most to reach this point, she said: “Support and help from family and coaches have helped me continue to grow and work to reach my highest potential. … I have so much fun playing these sports and, in my opinion, that is the key to success. Also having teammates that are my best friends makes everything better always.”
The team is currently ranked third in the Northwest Conference. The team is more than halfway done with their season and looking to raise their standing in the next couple weeks.
Prewitt discussed this season’s culture: “The cultural theme surrounding this team is ‘together.’ We have really focused on working hard as a solid unit and focus on giving each other reminders, pickups, touches and huddles.”
The Loggers will compete in four more conference games until the conference tournament during the weekend of Feb. 22.
