Top 10 Stories of 2013-14 - #6 O'Rourke First Hound to Reach Four Milestones
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College continues its look back at the 2013-14 athletic campaign with Top 10 Stories from the past year including the No. 6 story – senior guard Katie O’Rourke becomes the first Greyhound to achieve the milestones of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College continues its look back at the 2013-14 athletic campaign with Top 10 Stories from the past year including the No. 6 story – senior guard Katie O'Rourke becomes the first Greyhound to achieve the milestones of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals.
In the storied history of the Moravian women's basketball program, it is surprising that O'Rourke was the first player to reach all four milestones finishing her career with 1,019 points, 561 rebounds, 355 assists and 202 steals. She was 23rd player in school history to reach 1,000 points, the 19th to get to 500 rebounds, the fifth to 300 assists and seventh to 200 steals.
"Katie is one of the best to have played basketball at Moravian," stated 27-year Head Coach Mary Beth Spirk. "Her huge accomplishment is almost hard to imagine. All the great players before her and Katie achieves this milestone, just awesome. It has been a privilege to coach Katie for four years. One of the hardest workers, an outstanding leader and wise beyond her years, Katie's achievement is well deserved. She will leave a large gap on our team. Katie will continue to be successful in her teaching and coaching career."
Four former Greyhounds achieved three of the four milestones that O'Rourke did but they all fell short in the fourth category either rebounds or assists. Kathy Beck DeKorte '92 has the school records in points with 1,936, in rebounds with 1,013 and in steals with 369 but she had just 258 assists in her Moravian career. Susan Zimmerman '95 registered 1,784 points, 318 assists and 300 steals but finished with 408 boards. Jane Tatum Helstom '90 hit the milestones with 1,022 points, 553 rebounds and 241 assists but had 289 assists while Jessie Coughlin Milner '99 had 1,137 points, 346 assists and 312 steals while registering just 357 rebounds. All four of those former players are now members of the Moravian Hall of Fame.
"With the successful history that our program has, it is hard to believe that no one else has achieved those statistics," commented O'Rourke. "It's definitely not something that I set out to do or even saw coming, but I am proud of it. I have always wanted to be a player that could be depended on for whatever a team needs, whether its points, defense, or anything else. I have never been a really flashy player or been known to have huge numbers, rather just a steady presence. Because of that, I feel like this is exactly the kind of all-around accomplishment I would want to achieve."
O'Rourke hit the first two milestones in the same game, picking up both her 500th rebound and 300th assist in the Hounds 82-77 overtime loss at The Catholic University of America on January 18. She swiped her 200th career steal at Catholic on February 26 as the Hounds earned a 66-65 overtime win on the Landmark Conference Semifinals in Washington, D.C., and O'Rourke scored her 1,000th point on March 1 with a long jumper nearly midway through the second half of the Landmark Championship game at The University of Scranton.
After her outstanding senior season that saw O'Rourke lead the Greyhounds to a 20-8 record, a runner-up finish in the Landmark Tournament and an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, she was named to both the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division III Honorable Mention All-America and Women's DIII News Honorable Mention All-America Teams. O'Rourke was also on the Landmark All-Conference First Team and the D3hoops.com All-Mid-Atlantic Region Third Team while being named the Landmark Senior Scholar-Athlete for Women's Basketball.
Top 10 Stories of 2013-14
#10 – Women's Basketball Leads DIII in Blocked Shots
#9 – Seven Hounds Earn All-America Honors
#8 – Negron Becomes 3rd Hound to Rush for 1,000 Yards in a Season
#7 – Moravian Captures Matte Award for First Time Since 2002-03
#6 – O'Rourke First Hound to Four Milestones
#5 – TBA
#4 – TBA
#3 – TBA
#2 – TBA
#1 – TBA
