For Immediate Release:  August 20, 2002
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Director of Athletic Media Relations, (956) 381-2240

KREUSER TO PLAY PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL IN GERMANY

EDINBURG, TX– The leading scorer for The University of Texas-Pan American women’s basketball team will play professional basketball next season.
           

Kelli Kreuser (Bettendorf, IA/Davenport North HS/Truman State University), who led the Lady Broncs in scoring and assists during the 2001-2002 season, will play in Germany this year.

Kreuser signed a contract to play for the Marburg Marlins’ top women’s basketball team in the First Division of Germany’s Federal Basketball League. She plans to be in Germany for eight months-between this Friday (August 23^rd) and April 23^rd.

Texas-Pan American’s Co-Female Athlete of the Year and Female Newcomer of the Year last season, Kreuser made her only season at UTPA an exceptional one, as she started every game and played almost every position for the Lady Broncs. Named Independent Newcomer of the Year and first team All-Independent, she averaged 16.1 points and 5.3 assists per game, while scoring in double figures 23 times, including each of the last 20 games. Her 451 points this year tied her for the fourth-best single season output ever by a UTPA women’s basketball player, and she ranks third in steals for a single season with 69. Her 138 assists this year established a Lady Bronc single-season record. She scored a career-high 27 points in back-to-back games January 5th and 10th, scored 24 points three times, and scored 20 or more points nine times. Kreuser had a career-high six steals twice, and had three or more steals 12 times. Kreuser earned Dean’s List first honors for the fall, and was also a member of both the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and the Bronc Pride 3.0 Club.

Marburg, a city of approximately 80,000 people about 60 miles north of Frankfurt, is a city that Kreuser will be visiting for the first time. “I’m excited to keep playing, and, hopefully, it will be a good experience and I’ll get to continue postponing getting a real job for as long as possible,” said Kreuser. “I’ve never been to Europe, and even though I’ve been to Japan and Australia, I’m sure it will be different."

Kreuser said she was already getting prepared. “I think they want me to play the three (small forward) position over there, so I’ll be more like a shooter and a scorer rather than one of the primary ballhandlers,” said Kreuser. “They are arranging an apartment, and most of the people get around by using public transportation, which is very good. The language will be something new, but I have a beginning German CD, so I can practice that on the way over.”

Former UTPA Head Coach Karin Nicholls coached Kreuser at Truman State and with the Lady Broncs, and was pleased to learn of the opportunity. “Hopefully, this is the start of another great career for Kelli at a higher level,” said Nicholls. “It’s a reward for her hard work over the past five years, and it speaks volumes for the program and everyone who has been involved with her. It’s great that it has culminated in an overseas opportunity that could lead to the WNBA, which is her ultimate goal.”

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