Two seniors follow different paths to success

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Katy Grubbs, SM '99 shows the form which helped her score 1,000 points before her senior year.

In November 1994, Katy Grubbs', SM '99, father was on a business trip that found him waiting in Chicago's O'Hare Airport. In order to bide some time before his flight, he picked up a copy of the local newspaper and glanced at the front page. To his surprise, he saw a lengthy story on a local basketball star who was weighing her college options. The girl instantly reminded Grubbs of his own daug-hter, who, like the subject of the article, was also considering attending Yale the following fall.

He brought the paper home to show Katy. She thought the article was interesting, but didn't think twice about it after reading it over and stored it away. When Grubbs decided to attend Yale, however, she wondered what had happened to the Chicago hoops star whom she had read about only months before. As it turned out, the same front-page athlete is now her captain, fellow forward and good friend, Autumn Braddock, BK '99.

Four years after their 1994 "encounter," Braddock and Grubbs also share an impressive Yale record: they are two of only 13 Yale players in history to score over 1,000 points in their careers. But they've received this milestone in very different ways. "Katy can dominate the inside, and not just because she has a height advantage," Braddock said. "She is really skilled inside and has great post moves. Everyone on the team is confident that if we get her the ball, she can score and really take over a game."

Though both play in the frontcourt, Braddock is more of a perimeter player than Grubbs. Her particular strength comes from behind the three-point arc, where she shoots 38 percent. Grubbs knows that Braddock's long-range prowess benefits both players.

"Autumn has consistently been an amazing three-point shooter and hits so many important shots," Grubbs said. "Strong outside shooting is so important to inside players, since if shots are falling from the outside, defenses can't collapse inside. It opens up the middle. Because our strengths are different, Autumn and I are complementary players."

Grubbs became the 12th player to reach the 1,000-point milestone last February, a testament to her high-scoring ability and penchant for taking over games. Her point total now stands at 1,275. This season, Braddock joined her teammate in the exclusive club, and she has been a model of consistency throughout her four years on the team.

"Autumn is such a great shooter," guard Kelly Denit, DC '00, said. "She does a great job reading screens and getting herself open for shots. She will put in about 12 or 15 every night, consistently. Katy is more likely to have a really big game in terms of points. She has games when she just gets the ball and scores almost every time."

Women's basketball coach Cecelia DeMarco recognizes that both Braddock and Grubbs are nearing the end of their Yale careers. As the senior players make their final trip to Princeton and Penn for a pair of games on Fri., Feb. 12, and Sat., Feb. 13, DeMarco is able to look back at the progression of both players' careers.

"In her first Yale game, Katy went out and scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds--it was a little bit of surprise because we hadn't seen that kind of expressiveness from her in practice," DeMarco recalled. "Autumn took a little more time to develop her range, and has turned into a fantastic scorer. In the beginning, Autumn didn't always look to shoot--in her sophomore year, however, she began to get more comfortable with her role as a scorer."

DeMarco is also quick to point out that Grubbs' and Braddock's leadership has been complemented by the solid play of the team's two other seniors, Christina Bertao, JE '99, and Natasha Archer, MC '99. Denit agrees that the senior class has meant a great deal to this year's team.

"Katy, Autumn, Chris, and Natasha have all come from different paths," Denit said. "Chris has come back from shoulder surgery, Natasha was a walk-on--each one of them has gone on to do such amazing things on the court, and they have all been a source of leadership for us."

So as the world waits for the year 2000 to arrive, two Eli seniors can look back and know that together, they reached that number a little sooner than the rest of us. And they can also look back knowing that they did it with each one's biggest fan right behind her.

"They have been each other's biggest cheerleaders," DeMarco said. "They are such good friends on and off the court. It's been that way since the first day they arrived on campus and at practice--and to this day, they still take the time to congratulate one another."

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