Women's D-III PPOY: CUA's Kate Robinson
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive
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| It may take a couple of weeks to get her lacrosse legs,
but you can still see a little hoops in Kate Robinson's game even
during the lacrosse season. © David Sinclair |
There's only one thing that could possibly slow down the final
year of Kate Robinson's prolific lacrosse career at The Catholic
University of America.
Basketball.
One of the rare student-athletes to participate in the
basketball-lacrosse double-dip, Robinson was the third-leading
scorer and second-leading rebounder for the Cardinals last winter
before amassing 77 goals and 44 assists during Catholic's run to
the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse quarterfinals. She might
have been better served to concentrate solely on her spring sport
since a successful hoops season could potentially infringe on the
first quarter of the 2010 lacrosse campaign.
Robinson, however, wasn't about to give up her career on the
hardwood. When you're the granddaughter of Jim Phelan, the
legendary former coach at Mount St. Mary's, who is fifth on the
all-time wins list among college coaches behind names like Knight,
Rupp, Smith and Krzyzewski, you don't just set aside
basketball.
As it turns out, now that he's faced with watching an unfamiliar
sport, Phelan is having a hard time giving up hoops, as well.
"He's still learning lacrosse, so he just comes to my games and he
yells at the refs like he's still at a basketball game," said
Robinson, chuckling.
More importantly, basketball has helped shape Robinson into a
dominant midfielder and LM's Preseason Player of the Year. Whether
it's field vision, footwork, help-side defense, setting screens,
posting up or being strong through traffic, Robinson easily
transfers her hoops acumen to the lacrosse field. The only aspect
that doesn't carry over is the conditioning.
"There are basketball legs and then there are lacrosse legs," said
Robinson. "It usually takes a couple of weeks."
The prospect of playing the first couple of games without Robinson
on the field is daunting for CUA coach Meghan McDonogh, but she
knows how important basketball is to her star midfielder. McDonogh
also realizes she might have a slow start, but with 294 points in
three years, Robinson always finishes strong.
"She may only have a few points in the first couple of games," said
McDonogh. "But by the end of the season, no one can stop her."
