In certain situations, it’s OK to steal and shoot your way to the top. Ashley Bonenfant has found herself in such situations, so she’s been doing just that.
A freshman on the Allan Hancock College’s women’s basketball team, Bonenfant stands at 5-foot-5—but her modest height doesn’t shadow her skill as a basketball player. She has leading stats for her team in scoring and assisting; second in steals; and an average of 14 points a game. She’s also a solid three-point shooter.
Bonenfant, however, won’t be pigeonholed as a statistic.
“I told the freshmen that there would be a jump in physical exertion from high school to college competition,” said Sheri Bates, women’s basketball coach.
Despite the challenge Bonenfant and her teammates were warned of, she overcame the early adversity and scored her personal college basketball high of 16 points.
It’s not surprising; Bonenfant has a history of rising above the expectations of freshmanhood. In her first year of high school, she landed a spot on the varsity women’s basketball team. Then, as she progressed, she was honored with a position on the Los Padres League All Area Team.
Bonenfant lives in the now—much like a Buddhist monk—which may be the reason for her prosperity.
“It would be cool to move on,” she said, “but I have to see how this year works out first.” m
This article appears in Dec 10-17, 2009.
