Big Bend’s Kelsey Sorenson headed to Fort Lewis College for basketball
Big Bend redshirt sophomore Kelsey Sorenson smiles after making her commitment to Fort Lewis College to play basketball next season official on Wednesday evening at the ATEC Building at Big Bend Community College.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
MOSES LAKE — Big Bend Community College redshirt sophomore Kelsey Sorenson signed Wednesday to play basketball at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.
Sorenson was first in rebounding in the league at 14.2 a game and second in points per game with 20.4. She finished third in field goal percentage, shooting just under 60% for the year.
Sorenson said she originally planned on going back to her hometown in Utah after this season to finish her career at a school there.
“I didn’t really think about playing on until they started talking to me and then all my wants started matching up what they have so I thought it seemed like a good idea,” Sorenson said.
Sorenson said Fort Lewis College, an NCAA Division II program, first reached out to her about coming to play there around April or May. She said she’ll be joining a first-year head coach who showed he cared about his players through talking with her.
Sorenson said she’s excited to be closer to her hometown, giving her family more opportunities to see her play.
“They’ve only been able to come to like four of my games and maybe a tournament, so it’s super exciting to have them come to more games,” Sorenson said. “I’ll have some Utah games I’m playing and it’s only four and a half hours from home.”
An ankle injury cut her season short last year, Sorenson said, so she expected this season to start off slow. But, given the delays in the NWAAC schedule kicking off this spring, she said she ended up having more than enough time to prepare.
“I think we had a really successful season and I think part of it was, we were ready to play,” Sorenson said.
Being from a small town, Sorenson said the tight-knit community atmosphere around Big Bend and Moses Lake is what will stick with her the most. She said she made relationships here that will stick with her for the rest of her life.
Big Bend head coach Preston Wilkes said having players sign to continue playing basketball is always special for him.
“For Kelsey to choose to play on, she should,” Wilkes said. “She’s one heck of a ball player. There’s other people in the world that need to see her play.”