By Rachel Huser
Staff Writer
Dominican University women’s basketball player Alisha Markley reached the 1,000 career point mark on Jan. 25 against Concordia University Wisconsin.
The fifth-year graduate student from Rushville, Indiana, becomes just the fifth player in the NCAA era program history to reach that mark.
Markley entered the game only six points away from reaching the benchmark. She surpassed it with a layup in the third quarter. The last player to surpass 1,000 points was Timaya Ray in the 2018-19 season
The 5’2” guard isn’t new to basketball, having played the sport since she was in the second or third grade. Markley played a variety of different sports growing up, but basketball was the one that stayed with her all these years.
“It was something I enjoyed,” she said. “Basketball is a big thing where I’m from. It became my passion.”
Her passion for the sport is one of the main things that gravitated her to Dominican.
“The opportunity to continue to play basketball and the informatics program really drew me to Dominican,” Markley said. “I enjoy the smaller community and I thought I could really help the program too. It has been a lot of fun.”
Markley has helped the Stars immensely. During her tenure, the Stars made it to the NACC semifinals in 2018-19 and the 2019-20 season and put up some of the programs’ best regular-season records.
As Markley nears the final two weeks of her collegiate career, her goals remain simple.
“I want to finish the season on a high note and finish it strong with my teammates,” she said.
Reflecting on her time here at Dominican, Markley says the highlight of it all was the support system she found as a Star.
“Through basketball I found myself,” she said. “Basketball allowed me to become myself at Dominican.”
When asked how she felt when she broke 1,000 points, Markley commented that she felt a rush of different emotions.
“It was overwhelming,” she said. “I didn’t know what to feel, but I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to reach it.”
Markley expressed her gratitude for the athletic department, her coaches, friends and teammates (both past and current) for making her career at Dominican a memorable one.
The Stars’ next contest is Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. at home versus Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Rhuser@my.dom.edu
