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Saturday, February 26, 2000
Kyla Evers
makes her case
with defense
The 5-foot-8 senior for the
By Al Chase
University of Hawaii women's
basketball team takes pride in
her defensive assignments
Star-BulletinNo matter how many points she scores, Kyla Evers gauges her overall performance by how well she handles her defensive assignment.
Defense has become an aspect of the game that the 5-foot-8 senior for the University of Hawaii women's basketball team has come to appreciate.
It wasn't always that way for Evers. But her emphasis from offense to defense is what earned her the starting point guard spot in fall camp.
"I know there are people on the team who will do it for us offensively, but we're not going to be able to that without good defense,'' said Evers, who beat out three other teammates for the starting role. "I pride myself on my defense. I think defense is more important than offense for myself.''
Ironically, Evers is having her best-ever season offensively for the Wahine, who try to snap a two-game losing streak against San Jose State tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center. She is averaging 10.2 points a game, third-best on the team; she also leads the team in assists and steals and is second in 3-pointers.
Evers realized last year that Wahine head coach Vince Goo was assigning her to guard the best players on the opposing team.
"She's had some tough assignments,'' said Goo. "She's worked hard on her game in the off-season and has improved every year," Goo said.
"He told me after summer camp last season that I was the defensive specialist on the team," Evers said. "When you have people who like to play defense, the game is a lot easier."
Goo didn't expect Evers to have any difficulty switching positions during a game and that has been the case. He's moved Evers to wing at times to get more offense.
"Every time he has thrown me to the wing I've done pretty good,'' said Evers. "It's another option for him when the other wings aren't producing or doing what he wants them to do.
"On the wing there isn't as much pressure like having to control the ball, call the plays and knowing someone is there harassing you most of the time."
As her time in a Wahine uniform nears completion, Evers admits her body is saying it's finally over, enough of the hurting, enough of the pain, enough of leaving the dressing room with ice packs taped to one or both knees or the ankles.
It will be a major change not to play basketball, something that has been a part of her life since the fourth grade. She wonders what she will do will all the free time.
"I won't know what to do with myself. In my heart, I know if I see a pickup game, I will definitely want to jump in," Evers said.
"It's kind of weird knowing it's almost done, that I only have two home games left. We've all ready gone through so many months. Time has just flown by."
Calling herself kind of a spontaneous person who just takes it day by day, Evers feels satisfaction in where she is as a player today as opposed to where she started four years ago. She says her memories will revolve around the people she has played with and the fans which she calls the "greatest."
"Four years spent with people is a long time. You can't forget about them. You can't walk away from people," she said. "I would like to go visit Ray in Australia or Maj in Denmark. There's good reasons to stay in touch.
"I've learned you never burn bridges because you never know when someone might help you in the future."
Hometown: Port Orchard, Wash. Kyla Evers file
Major: Physical Education
Graduation planned for: Fall 2001
Career goal: To teach and coach high school girls basketball
Year G Pts. Avg. St Ast 1996-97 7 13 1.9 0 2 1997-98 26 54 2.1 11 11 1998-99 26 213 8.2 33 70 1999-00 23 235 10.2 44 81 Totals 82 515 6.3 88 164
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
