Former Cedar Rapids Washington prep Anne Visser happy to be back with Cornell women’s basketball

MOUNT VERNON — Anne Visser is having fun playing basketball again.

After spending a year away from the game to travel, work and place more focus on the pursuit of a creative writing degree, the Cornell College senior decided to return to the court.

'I missed it, a lot,' Visser said after she scored a season-high 14 points as Cornell routed Beloit, 59-33, in a Midwest Conference women's basketball game Friday night at Small Multi-Sport Center. 'I missed the team a lot. I just kind of realized, this is the last year that I have the opportunity to do this.'

Visser was a three-time all-MVC selection for a Cedar Rapids Washington team that won 46 games during her three years playing varsity ball. Visser started 33 games through her first two seasons at Cornell and was third on the team in scoring and rebounding both years for a Rams team that won 40 games in her two seasons.

Even with such robust individual and team success, the intensity of the pressure Visser felt caused her to reevaluate where she placed her energy.

'It definitely gave me a lot of time to recharge,' said Visser, who has played in all nine games this season in a reserve capacity. 'Just kind of realized how much fun you can have with the game. I keep saying that, but I was really stressed about basketball. Now it is not a stressor. It is something that is fun.'

Everyone surrounding Cornell (5-4, 2-1 Midwest Conference) is happy to have Visser back. In her absence, the Rams won just seven games last season after losing Visser and four productive seniors from the team that reached the 2018 NCAA Division III Tournament.

'The most impressive thing about last year was that the wins and losses did not impact our attitude or effort,' Cornell Coach Brent Brase said. 'They carried that over and that is what it is all about. It is easy for everyone when you win to handle that graciously. But when you don't (win), then how do you handle that? So last year we went through that for the first time in a long time, but they handled it well.'

The Rams return four senior starters — forward Mo Kempiak and guards Rose Shimaoka, Mya Johnson and Bella Gonzalez — from last season and have inserted a 6-foot-3 freshman from Winterset, Madison Wauters, into the starting lineup at center.

The group is already just two wins short of last season's win total.

'We are having a lot of fun,' Visser said. 'That is a really important thing.'

Women's basketball

AT SMALL MULTI-SPORT CENTER

Cornell 59, Beloit 33

BELOIT (33):

Christy Melton 3-4 1-4 7, Lauren Glaser 2-5 1-2 7, Kelly Loudon 3-8 0-0 6, Kelly Mclean 2-5 0-0 5, Dani Strejc 0-3 0-0 0, Lexy Olson 2-3 0-2 5, T'Aira Boyance 1-3 1-4 3, Samarah Wilson 0-2 0-0 0, Tera Howard 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-34 3-12 33

CORNELL (59):

Mo Kempiak 5-10 2-2 14, Bella Gonzalez 5-15 2-6 13, Rose Shimaoka 2-9 0-0 4, Madison Wauters 1-7 1-2 3, Mya Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, Anne Visser 5-9 1-2 14, Seanne Bialo 1-2 0-0 3, Tara Hansel 1-1 0-0 2, Carrie Callahan 1-2 0-0 2, Keva Tomas 1-6 0-0 2, Macy Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Jess Velcich 0-1 0-0 0, Grace Werlin 0-0 0-0 0, Hilary Alvarez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-67 6-12 59

Beloit 9 10 13 1—33

Cornell 10 15 19 15—59

3-point goals — Beloit 4-15 (Glaser 2-3, Loudon 0-4, Mclean 1-2, Strejc 0-3, Olson 1-2, Howard 0-1), Cornell 7-33 (Kempiak 2-3, Gonzalez 1-7, Shimaoka 0-5, Johnson 0-3, Visser 3-7, Bialo 1-2, Callahan 0-1, Tomas 0-5). Total fouls — Beloit 12, Cornell 16. Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Beloit 33 (Melton 8), Cornell 36 (Gonzalez, Wauters 8). Assists — Beloit 10 (Glaser 3), Cornell 15 (Shimaoka 3). Turnovers — Beloit 28, Cornell 10. Steals — Beloit 4 (Boyance 2), Cornell 19 (Visser 5). A —

165.

Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com