NAIA Tourney Women’s College Basketball

SALEM, Ore. – When Husson College women’s basketball coach Kissy Walker was still in her playing days at the University of Maine, she worked a basketball camp in Waterville and was impressed with the all-around play and attitude of a certain 14-year-old participant.

“I remember thinking that if I ever became a college basketball coach, that was the type of player I was going to recruit,” Walker said.

As luck would have it, Walker would get a chance to recruit that player.

And Darci Collins, a 5-foot-8 guard out of Presque Isle, would wind up playing an integral part in Walker’s 94-22 career record after four years as a head coach.

More importantly to the Braves, Collins, now a senior, has been playing a bigger role of late, helping Husson to a 26-2 record as the Braves gained the school’s first berth in the NAIA Division II National Championship tournament.

Husson, seeded fifth, opens the 1993 national tourney Friday in a second-round matchup against Sterling (Kan.) College at noon (WHSN-FM, 89.3 Bangor) at Western Oregon State College in nearby Monmouth, Ore.

“I think Darci’s kind of leadership is carried over in terms of helping continuity,” Walker said. “She’s just a great person and everybody gets along with her. I don’t think there is anybody that doesn’t get along with Darci.”

Statistically speaking, Collins is the least prolific of Husson’s three seniors, having played with classmates Kristi Wildman and Vicki Mazerall for four years.

“I guess a lot of Darci’s role is built around her personality,” Walker said. “On the court, she’s more of a defensive type of player who does things that don’t show up in the statistics.”

When Collins does show up in the stats, it’s usually impressive stuff.

After a slow start, Collins has lifted her per-game average to 10.6 points, third on the team. She is the team’s leading 3-point scorer (27-for-70, 39 percent) and also leads the team in assists even though she is not a point guard.

Stats mean little to Collins, the consumate team player.

She is surprised by her team’s success, having thought a trip to the national championships would have happened earlier in her career.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be this year,” Collins said. “I thought the team with Sharon (Siebert) and Chris (Hunter) my freshman year would have had the best chance. But this team works well together. We know what each other is like.”

As was the case when Walker was coaching at the summer camp, Collins won the Coach’s Award last season for Husson.

“She always does what a coach expects her to do,” Walker said. “She’s a quiet person, but if somebody gets out of line, she’s not afraid to speak up.”

But those are traits Collins has had for a long time. Just ask her coach, who recogonized them first, eight years ago.