It was a Sunday afternoon game, where Rebekah Hand reached a milestone that very few have in women’s basketball program history. Hand scored her 1500th point in her game against Elon University, a mark that put her third all-time on the career scoring list.
Hand’s shooting ability is a main reason why she is third all-time in scoring, but she would explain that her teammates are the reason for the record. “I honestly can’t take a lot of credit for my scoring per se,” said Hand. “I think it is more of my teammates finding me.” She went on to explain how grateful she truly feels about her success within a great program. “It’s such an honor just from the standpoint of how thankful I am to be surrounded by the teammates I have and the coaches,” said Hand.
The unselfishness and ball movement of the team is why becoming third on the all-time scoring list was attainable, Hand would say. Though to score 1500 points, a player needs to be aggressive too. “I mean our whole team shares the ball, we’re not a selfish team at all. I think that is one thing that has allowed me to reach this milestone,” said Hand. “Another thing personally, being assertive on both ends of the floor.”
Head coach Brian Giorgis echoed the positive impact Hand brings to the team in a variety of ways. “For the athlete that she is… she has done a remarkable job of finding different ways to help us,” said Giorgis. Whether it be by a shot, a free throw, a pass, an offensive rebound or whatever, she is critical in our offense.”
Being on the career scoring list and moving up to the number one spot is not a concern for Hand, especially come game time. If you think she has the scoring list on her mind during the game, think again. “Absolutely not,” said Hand. “This has never been a goal like, yes I am going to reach 1500 points, but that’s why I am so thankful that it happened because I came here freshman year not thinking that whatsoever.”
The only two former women players on the scoring list in front of her are Ursula Winter (‘85), who Hand should overtake with ease and Rachel Fitz (‘09), who seems almost impossible to reach. To obtain the number one spot on the all-time scoring list, passing Fitz, Hand would need to average 35 points per game for the remaining 27 games. Hand realizes the absurdity of scoring that much and when asked if she could pass it, Hand laughed and replied, “Probably not, but we’ll see. It would be a miracle.”
The only thing that made scoring 1500 points and reaching third on the all-time scoring list sweeter for Hand is having her sister, Hannah Hand playing alongside her as she scored her 1500th point. “It just made it that much more special to me because we’ve been playing basketball ever since we were little together, so having her able to play with me, while that happened was super special,” said Hand.
The moment was special for Hand’s sister Hannah as well but when asked about her role in her sister’s milestone, she was quick to take some of the credit. “Ohh heck yea, who do you think rebounded for her okay, so I am going to take half the credit,” said Hannah Hand, who had the biggest smile on her face, while laughing.
Hand and the Red Foxes will travel down south to face North Florida and Lipscomb over the weekend in the ASUN/MAAC challenge. There, Hand will score not for the record books, but to help her team win. She has cemented herself on the scoring list and can only improve an already outstanding basketball career. Nevertheless, the number one spot on the all-time scoring list is hers, if she can somehow score 35 points a game for the rest of the season.
Edited by Craig Conway