Connely shoots Stars to victory

Sheena Connely, a freshman starting guard for Stephens College, had a game she will remember for quite some time Tuesday night in the Stars’ basketball game against Central Christian College.

Coming into the game at Silverthorne Arena, Connely had made only two 3-pointers in her career. Against the Heralds (5-12), she started 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and finished with four 3-pointers for a career-high of 20 points for Stephens (8-15).

Connley said it was an awesome feeling to be the team leader in points in the Stars’ 93-42 victory. While walking out of the locker room, Connley was on her cell phone talking to her father to share the excitement.

“It was kind of a good game for me, I guess,” Connley said afterwards while laughing.

Stephens coach Dane Pavlovich said Connely worked extremely hard to earn a spot in Stephens’ lineup. She first started Jan. 19 in a 89-39 win against Johnson and Wales.

“She’s playing so well,” said Pavlovich, who described Connely as the team’s fastest player and probably one of its best on-ball defenders.

Aside from Connley, the Stars spread the scoring out evenly. By the final buzzer, nine of the 11 Stars players scored seven or more points.

Pavlovich said the Stars are a well-rounded team and that any of its 11 players could start any evening.

“We wanted to make sure we utilize our depth to our advantage,” Pavlovich said. “It’s a shame we can’t have more players on the floor at one time because we have a bunch of players who can really play and contribute in a lot of different ways.”

He also stressed how the Stars played extremely well as a team offensively and Tuesday night was by far their best shooting night of the season.

“We shared the basketball really, really well. But the other thing that we did, we shot the ball well,” Pavlovich said. “It’s a lot easier to share the basketball when everybody’s scoring because everybody becomes a threat.”

The Heralds only threat was sophomore forward Carissa Zeise, who netted 29 of their 42 points.

Stephens’ next game is Monday at St. Louis Pharmacy. The Stars beat the Eutectics 68-41 on Jan. 25.