Bowling Green State University Athletics
Kelly Kapferer Feature
March 18, 2005 | Women's Basketball
March 17, 2005
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - Life couldn't be much better for Kelly Kapferer.
The fifth-year senior is finishing her college basketball career on a high note with Bowling Green's appearance in the NCAA tournament this weekend. Kapferer is coming off huge efforts against Toledo in a game which helped the Falcons secure the Mid-American Conference championship and against Kent State in the MAC tournament championship game.
Also, Kapferer sang the National Anthem as part of Senior Day before the BG-Toledo game. A self-described big Led Zeppelin fan, Kapferer sings in a Zeppelin cover band which will be performing at EasyStreet Cafe in Bowling Green next month.
To top everything off, Kapferer's on schedule to graduate with a degree in fine arts in May and she will be married in June.
"I'm definitely in a mix of a lot of different types of things. I have a lot of different friends on campus, not just athletes or guitar players," Kapferer said. "It's just something I've grown up doing. I've always been into art and my mom always pushed me into singing in church when I was little."
Last month, with Ali Mann on the bench with an ankle injury, the multi-talented Kapferer converted a three-point play with 9.1 seconds left in BG's 72-71 win over Toledo.
Then last Saturday, with Mann on the bench in foul trouble, Kapferer scored eight first-half points in an 81-75 win over Kent State in the MAC title game.
"Without her we don't win the championship," Miller said about the 6-feet-2 Kapferer, who is one of the team's co-captains.
As a sophomore in the 2001-02 season, Kapferer started 20 games and closed out the season in a big way, winning MAC player of the week honors in late February and then scoring 16 points and adding six rebounds in a MAC tournament game against Ohio.
That was Miller's first season as BG's head coach and even though she had a good season, Kapferer decided she needed to evaluate her future. She stayed in school at Bowling Green, but quit the basketball team.
"I really wanted to make sure that I wanted to be doing this (playing basketball), because it is a big commitment," Kapferer said. "The year off was good for me. I got to find out a lot of what my priorities really were. I found out I missed the game, so I came back.
"I just wanted to make sure I found out what made me really happy."
After the year off, Kapferer asked Miller for the opportunity to rejoin the team.
"She was a popular teammate and she was good for the locker room ... She left on good terms. We were certainly disappointed when she decided to take the year off," Miller said.
"Without hesitation, I thought it was a good idea. She had a lot of team support and the coaching staff sat down and said this will be good for us in the long run. It wasn't a tough decision when she asked to come back, to open that door and invite her back in."
Since returning to the Falcons, Kapferer has played a major role, coming off the bench to spell Liz Honegger and Mann.
"I didn't have an expectations of being a starter or a star player, I just wanted to be back on the team. I missed the camaraderie and working with the staff," Kapferer said. "I would rather come off the bench and play seven minutes a game for a team going to the NCAA than be a star post player and score 25 points a game for a team that has won four games all year."
Miller said many players have problems coming off the bench, but Kapferer accepts her role.
"We talked early on that you're the best center coming off the bench in this league and your role is very, very important to us," Miller said. "To her credit she sacrificed some personal glory or maybe some opportunities at other schools where she would be getting more playing time right now."
Kapferer and her teammates are preparing for Saturday's NCAA game in Seattle against Kansas State.
"As a team we are so thrilled with this opportunity," Kapferer said. "We're going out to win. We know that nobody is invincible ... If we keep playing the way we have been playing, I think it's going to be a real good game on Saturday."
