A record-setting college hoops career has come to an end, and it took almost every minute of it for a new record to be set.
Kelly O’Donnell, a senior standout women’s basketball player for St. Joseph’s College Brooklyn, Clinton Hill, needed every game of her four-year career to eclipse the program’s all-time scoring record – previously held by the Class of 2000’s Rosanne Wahl at 2,004 points.
With a game-high 24-point performance in her final collegiate contest on Feb. 19 at Manhattanville College, Purchase, N.Y., O’Donnell finished her historic Bears career with 2,009 points. She is now also the school’s leading career rebounder with 978.
With the effort, the St. Edmund Prep H.S., Sheepshead Bay, product became the 53rd player in NCAA Division III women’s basketball history to score 2,000 or more points. So concludes a basketball journey that began on the Catholic Youth Organization courts of St. Columba, Marine Park.
After her first three collegiate seasons, O’Donnell was on pace to take the down the Bears’ program record. However, her junior season ended right as the COVID-19 pandemic began. It turns out what would have been her senior year playing basketball never happened.
Yet due to the 2020-2021 season’s cancellation, O’Donnell had one more year of NCAA eligibility, so she came back to St. Joe’s for a fifth year. It worked out well since she also had a few more classes to take to complete her criminal justice major.
As the season got underway, O’Donnell knew the scoring milestone was within reach, but she also wanted to focus on getting back to the Skyline Conference’s championship game – a game the Bears lost in 2020 against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, N.Y.
“I knew it was a goal I was going for, but I didn’t want it to consume me,” she said. “I didn’t want my whole season to be about it. I just wanted to win and enjoy the time left I had with my teammates.”
Game-by-game, O’Donnell added to her career points total. She’d follow up a low-scoring game with an outburst to keep pace – right up until the season finale. She needed at least 20 points against Manhattanville to eclipse the program high mark.
“Normally I don’t even know my point total until after a game,” O’Donnell said. “Going into that game though, it was very much on my mind just because there was a lot of suspense behind it. I had my friends, my family, and my teammates all reminding me how close I was.”
O’Donnell struggled from the field in the first quarter and finished the frame with zero points, but a nine-point second quarter and four-point third quarter gave her 13 heading into the final quarter of her college career.
Adding to the suspense, Manhattanville’s scoreboard shows the exact amount of points each player has when they’re in the game. Plus, each time O’Donnell got back to the bench for a game stoppage, teammates – and especially her family in the front row – reminded her of how many points she had left.
After reaching the 2,000-point plateau early in the fourth and quickly making another bucket, O’Donnell pulled within two points of tying Wahl’s record. At the 7:30 mark, she was fouled on a layup attempt that she made, thus setting up a three-point play opportunity and a chance to break the record on a foul shot. She of course knew exactly what was going on.
“I looked up at the ceiling and said, ‘All I have to do is hit this free throw,’” she said. “I definitely took a second to myself.”
The shot went up and hit nothing but net. O’Donnell was now the Bears all-time leading scorer. She added four more points for good measure to finish with 11 in her final career quarter. Of her 24 total points, half came from the charity stripe as she finished 12-of-15 from the line.
“Free throws are free points,” she said. “I was happy that I was able to break the record on a free throw. It was nice to not have to break it on a last-second half-court attempt or a three-pointer. I just needed to focus and knock down that free throw.”
A more-fitting storybook ending to O’Donnell’s hoops career likely could not have been scripted. The most prolific scorer in Bears history is now set to graduate and pursue a career in criminal justice. She said she would love to break into coaching as well.
“Basketball is always going to be a part of my future, and St. Joe’s will always have a special place in my heart,” she said. “I can’t wait to come back to watch games next year.”
If she does wind up coaching, she will undoubtedly pass along her vast basketball knowledge and skill level to the next generation of point-scorers.
And who knows? Maybe she’ll train the next St. Joe’s Bear who will challenge her all-time program record.
Contact Jim Mancari via email at jmmanc@gmail.com.