On Nov. 12, Studevent and Orekhova signed National Letters of Intent to continue their basketball careers in college. Studevent committed to Penn State, and Orekhova signed with Northwestern - since both schools play in the Big Ten conference, the teammates will face each other at least twice a season for the next four years.
Studevent, a 5-foot-11 guard, averaged 18.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.0 steals for the Knights last season, her first year at Bishop's after transferring from La Jolla Country Day. She also tied a high school record by making seven three-pointers in a playoff game.
Penn State coach Coquese Washington said Studevent reminds her of slippery San Antonio Spurs star Manu Ginobili, and is eager to have the guard join her program.
"She is like the Energizer bunny," Washington said in a athletic department statement. "She just runs, runs, runs all day. She is a phenomenal shooter, she's got a great outside shot and she works really hard. Anytime there is action around the ball, Gizelle is involved with it. She has a good handle, and she brings a lot of toughness to that (wing) position."
Orekhova missed half of her junior season with a knee injury, but still managed to average 15.9 points, eight rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the Knights. A native of Austria, she earned All-Coastal League honors at power forward.
"We are very excited about Inga's decision to come to Northwestern," Wildcats coach Joe McKeown said in a statement. "The international flavor of the Chicago metropolitan area was attractive to her, as was the opportunity to play at a Big Ten school like Northwestern. She brings a lot of offensive firepower to the program and has the potential to be a top player."
Bishop's coach Marlon Wells did not return calls seeking comment.
Gregory Ball Gregory Ball covers sports for La Jolla Light. He can be reached at ballgregory@yahoo.com.
Although the La Jolla Light does not have any obligation to monitor this board, the La Jolla Light reserves the right at all times to check this board and to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to the La Jolla Light in our sole discretion and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. The La Jolla Light also reserves the right to permanently block any user who violates these terms and conditions. All threats to systems or site infrastructure shall be assumed genuine in nature and will be reported to the appropriate law enforcement authorities. Submission of any comments will be considered permission to use online or in print.
