Bowling Green State University Athletics
Kapferer Returns To BG Women
May 12, 2003 | Women's Basketball
May 1, 2003
By DAMON BECK, Sentinel Sports Writer - Bowling Green women's coach Curt Miller got a pleasant surprise recently when Kelly Kapferer walked into his office and announced she wanted to play basketball again.
The 6-foot-2 former starter sat out last year after playing two seasons with the Falcons. Kapferer, an art major, said at the end of the 2001-2002 season she wanted to concentrate on her studies and build her art portfolio. She took a part-time job at a local retailer and stayed at the university as a full-time student this year.
The return of Kapferer gives BG a proven player in the low post, the weakest position on the floor for the 12-16 Falcons last season when they finished last in the Mid-American Conference in rebounding margin (-5.2).
"We are happy to welcome Kelly back into the program," Miller said. "She approached us about five weeks ago and after a number of meetings, we are sure (recommitting) to basketball is what she really wants to do. We wanted to make sure it wasn't just a one-day knee-jerk reaction."
Miller said the rest of the team was consulted on Kapferer's return.
"When she left, I thought and there are a number of other MAC coaches on record as saying, she was the premier young post player in the league," the second-year head coach added. "She will come back as our starting center and she gives us a physical presence inside. She can score in a variety of ways and her rebounding will be a huge plus for us."
In her final regular-season game as a sophomore, Kapferer scored a career-high 21 points. She had a team-high 16 points and six rebounds in BG's Mid-American Conference Tournament loss at Ohio that year.
During the season, she recorded 10 rebounds on three separate occasions while starting 20 of BG's 28 games. She finished her sophomore season fifth on the team in scoring with 7.9 points per game while shooting a team-best 46 percent from the field. Kapferer grabbed 4.5 rebounds per game in 2001-2002.
As a freshman, Kapferer played in all 29 games with four starts and averaged 3.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
She will join BG's two returning post players, junior-to-be 6-foot forward Sakima Smith and 6-2 sophomore center Jill Lause, on the roster.
Miller has a huge recruiting class coming to BG next year with six of the eight new players projected to play either center or power forward. Four of the recruits stand 6-feet or taller.
"We recruited a lot of post players and they look good but for now that is just on paper," Miller said. "With Kelly -- after she shakes off some of the rust -- we have a proven center with one more year of maturity who knows what it takes at this level to be successful. We have told her she will need to be a leader for all those younger kids."
BG also returns four guards, giving Miller a full 15-player squad for next season.
Kapferer will have two years of eligibility remaining and will return as a full scholarship player.
A spot opened on the team for Kapferer when 5-11 freshman Britt Anderson decided to concentrate solely on her BG soccer career. Miller said recent changes to NCAA rules on the number of hours an athlete can practice each week make it harder to play two sports that have overlapping seasons.
Anderson came to BG as a basketball recruit but walked on with the soccer team last summer before basketball began. She became a starter midway through the soccer season and finished as BG's fifth leading scorer. She averaged less than a point and 2.0 rebounds in 25 games for the basketball team.
