Lake Region State College has produced its latest Division 1 athlete: Kelsey Crossan of the women’s basketball team.
Crossan announced on Saturday that she committed to Gardner-Webb, a D1 school in North Carolina that competes in the Big South. Her signing comes during a season where she’s led the Royals in points per game as a sophomore forward.
“I really can’t thank [head coach] Ryan [Clark], firstly, enough for getting me these opportunities and really trusting me this season,” Crossan said. “This school is amazing, and their coaching staff is one of a kind. So I’m just over the moon.”
Crossan, a native of Newcastle, Australia, originally came over to Williston State College last season. She said some scouts approached her while she was playing at nationals in Australia one time, and it blossomed from there.
“I never really imagined myself coming over, but I have no regrets now,” Crossan said.
Her playing time was limited with the Tetons, averaging just 4.7 minutes per game — and only 2.2 per conference game. But she made the most of it. Though she posted only 1.6 points per game, she averaged 13.6 points per 40 minutes overall and 19.7 per 40 minutes in conference games. She was scoring when given the chance; the problem was that she wasn’t given enough chances.
So she transferred to LRSC.
And since then, her career has taken off. She leads the Royals with 10.4 points per game — the only Royal in double digits. She now plays 21 minutes per game and is one of the starting five on a game-to-game basis. She also leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per game, compared to just 0.8 in her small sample at WSC.
“I have been scoring, which is obviously a plus always, but I’ve really focused in on my defense this season,” Crossan said. “And definitely putting in the effort for the rebounds, and just showing the team and especially the freshmen that if you work hard, it’ll come back to you.”
Crossan is one of three Australian players on the team, along with Kyla Fitzgerald and Brooke Kleinig. Clark is Australian as well, and began his path playing for LRSC from 2014 to 2016. Crossan credited her Australian counterparts for bringing some of her home culture to North Dakota.
“I definitely have met so many amazing people throughout my two junior college teams,” Crossan said. “Honestly, just the people around me are all role models each day.”
Success didn’t come easily or immediately for Crossan, but playing for LRSC has allowed her to flourish. That’s what the junior college level is for: it allows players to progress beyond high school and earn a chance at playing for a four-year university. JUCO players usually either weren’t recruited by a university straight out of high school, or simply couldn’t find the right fit.
It could be seen as a second chance, in a way.
“I think it’s really important just to take it day by day,” Crossan said. “Sometimes I even get caught up in the schoolwork and practice and games. And obviously, being international, that homesickness plays into it. I always tell the girls as well, and especially the freshmen, just to take a breath.”
Crossan has taken advantage of her second chance — though it could even be seen as her third chance, given her lack of playing time with WSC. Her story is a prime example of what could be in store for any of these Royals players on the women’s or men’s team, or any player in the entire Mon-Dak Athletic Conference, for that matter. She’s living proof that a JUCO freshman struggling to get playing time can become a D1 athlete within the next year.
“We are so proud of her for that. She’s worked hard,” her Australian teammate Fitzgerald said. “And that’s the same sentiment for all the sophomores, all the freshmen that come in. It’s a stepping stone, and it’s getting used to the competitive play here.”
Crossan credited Clark for getting her to this point during the relatively short time she’s gotten to work with him while playing for LRSC. She called him “an amazing coach” who has given her the confidence and trust necessary to thrive and reach her full potential.
“After taking the junior college route, I’m proud of myself for sticking in there and trusting the process,” Crossan said.
Clark knows the kind of work it takes to get where she’s at. After averaging 13.5 points per game in his career at LRSC, he received a basketball scholarship from Dickinson State University and spent two seasons there.
“I’m super happy for Kelsey because she’s worked extremely hard, and going through a lot to put herself in the position she’s in right now,” Clark said.
Now, Crossan has a D1 career to look forward to after the 2023-24 season wraps up.
Even with the Royals in the thick of their season, and so much still ahead for the Australian sophomore, Crossan expressed largely gratitude and reflection in the moment — immediately after beating her old team, the Tetons, who were yet to lose a conference game until the Royals took them down 66-57 in Devils Lake on Sunday. It would be hard to script a more fitting statement.
“I think we’re still on the upwards,” Crossan said. “I don’t even think we’ve really shown what we can do 100% because we’re a great defensive team, as well as offensive. And we just want to get all those wins. I really think we can win this whole thing. I think we have an amazing team.”
But for Crossan, it’s all about being appreciative of the experiences she’s had with both teams. Whether LRSC wins the whole thing or not, the school and the program have contributed immensely to her advancing to the next step. Now she’s a Bulldog.
“I’m just so happy to have the scholarship and the opportunity to be there,” she said. “And obviously, I want to dominate there as well. So just taking it day by day as I said, and just being grateful to even get to that position.”
She thanks her parents as well for all the support they’ve given her. They sent her to the other side of the world to play basketball, after all.
Now it’s time to finish her American junior college career on a high note, before taking off for North Carolina and starting another chapter of the life she’s created here.
Joseph “Mojo” Hill is a reporter covering Lake Region sports for the Devils Lake Journal. Contact him on Twitter @mojohill22 or at jhill@devilslakejournal.com for any tips, questions or story ideas.
