LOWELL — St. Mary’s graduate Brianna Rudolph ended her high school basketball career in the best way possible. A three-year guard, Rudolph helped lead the Spartans to a MIAA Division 3 state championship as a senior in 2014. During that championship run, Rudolph put together what went down as one of the more memorable individual performances in St. Mary’s girls basketball history. She scored 31 points in a 47-45 win over Archbishop Williams in the state semifinal at TD Garden.
She was also a member of the St. Mary’s team that won it all during her freshman year in 2011.
“Brianna played with an edge, a refuse to lose mentality that was second to none,” St. Mary’s girls basketball coach Jeff Newhall said. “The game that stands out to me the most was against Williams in the state semifinal. Everybody in the place knew what we’d do with the ball every single time and they couldn’t stop her because she refused to lose. That’s just one example. “She worked hard. She wasn’t always the most loved person by her opponents but that’s because of her will to win. If everybody played as hard as she did, we’d have a lot of tough players.”
Now Rudolph’s aiming for a similar ending to her college basketball career. Rudolph, a graduate student at UMass Lowell, is in her final season of eligibility with the River Hawks.
“I expected to play hard and leave everything on the court for my last year,” Rudolph, a Lynn native, said. “I wanted to play as hard as I can and get everything out of it for my last go-round.”
In 20 starts this season, Rudolph has posted averages of 31.5 minutes, 11.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. She’s shooting 38.8 percent from the field, 79.7 percent from the free throw line and 29.4 percent from 3-point range.
Perhaps a key to her solid numbers this winter is UMass Lowell coming around to its new offense. River Hawks coach Tom Garrick is in his first season at the helm of the program and has implemented new systems since taking over in April. It took a while for Rudolph and her teammates to make adjustments and gain familiarity with Garrick’s systems but they’re nearing where they aim to be.
“We’re running our sets more fluidly,” Rudolph said. “We have a whole new coaching staff so we’re doing things a lot differently than we have in the past. We have some new players who came in. Everyone’s getting an understanding of who we are and what team we want to be moving forward. I think that’s the best thing.”
Through 20 games the River Hawks are 6-14. Currently in the middle of its conference schedule, UMass Lowell is 2-5 against America East opponents.
“I feel our non-conference schedule was competitive, just like any other year,” Rudolph said. “That helps prepare us for what we’ll see in the conference. The coaches did a good job putting that together. Playing teams like Butler and Seton Hall really helped us. We gained some toughness, it was really productive.”
The River Hawks don’t have the record they aimed for, but Rudolph feels there’s still time to turn things around.
“I think we’re getting better with each game and each week,” Rudolph said. “We’re learning from previous games. We’re taking everything we’ve learned and implementing that into our games. I think we’re getting much better as the season goes on.”
Away from the court, Rudolph’s finishing her master’s in criminal justice. She has a degree in criminal justice and a certificate in domestic violence prevention.
“Things are going pretty good,” Rudolph said. “I just finished up my first semester. I’m hoping to be done by the summer and hopefully pursue a career in something that I like to do.”
Rudolph’s career at UMass Lowell has certainly seen its share of obstacles. She played just two games during her sophomore campaign (2015-2016) before suffering a torn ACL in her right knee that sidelined her for the rest of the season. Rudolph also missed her redshirt sophomore season (2016-2017) due to injury.
“Personally I had to focus more on school,” Rudolph said. “I had my mindset on ‘basketball’s everything.’ It humbled me and shifted my passion a bit more. It opened opportunities that I wouldn’t have thought about. Basketball-wise, I learned a lot. Watching from the sidelines definitely helped me.”
Newhall believes Rudolph’s journey to Division I basketball is one his current players can learn from.
“If there was a message to our current kids or any current girls basketball players, it’s that she overcame so much to get to where she is today,” Newhall said. “She had numerous adversities in her life. If she can overcome everything she overcame, nobody has an excuse. She had numerous excuses and she wasn’t going to be denied. That will to persevere was second to none. That’s the message I’d say she can relate that would stick to them.”
Rudolph and the River Hawks are back on the court next Wednesday when they visit Maine.
