Bowen shoots for bigger role

When a coach wasn't present in the weight room to begin a Gonzaga women's basketball pre-season workout, senior Kelly Bowen was the player to step up and get the team started.

"She is definitively one of the top leaders," said fellow senior Kayla Standish.

"My focus is to be a good senior leader on and off the court and to have a really well-rounded year," Bowen said.

Bowen, from Victoria, Australia, attended St. Peter's College (a high school in Australia). She played for the 2008 Victorian U-20 State Team and was a finalist for the Emerging Athlete Award. Bowen made an immediate impact as a freshman at Gonzaga, where she made an appearance in all 34 games. She was also named to the West Coast Conference All-Freshman team and scored a career-high 17 points on two occasions.

She said that the top reason she decided to attend Gonzaga was the intimate family environment, especially in the women's basketball program.

"I picked Gonzaga because of the family atmosphere that the school has, being a small school and just the chemistry together, not only with the teachers in the classroom, but this team. It is like a real family," Bowen said.

Head coach Kelly Graves said that Bowen was a solid person and player the minute she walked onto the Gonzaga campus. Graves said he has noticed overall improvement since Bowen's freshman season. 

"She was pretty mature coming in, above her years probably. I have seen her grow in confidence. I think her skill level has always been pretty high, but I think she is even better now. She is a better defender than she was when she got here, better passer, some of those skills," Graves said. "But she hasn't made tremendous progress in any one area, it has just been kind of an overall transformation so to speak. Those are the kind of players you love to have."

Bowen started all but one game last season and averaged 4.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.2 assists per game. Bowen described her time at Gonzaga as "amazing."

"It has had really high highs and really low lows, but for the most part it has been a really good experience. Just every day being different," Bowen said.

Graves said that he looks for Bowen to have an expanded role compared to last season.

"Last year she was asked to primarily be a defender and a rebounder because we had so many options, then this year she has to shoulder a little more of the scoring load and she is capable of doing it. That's why I like her so much, she is the kind of player that does what we need. Last year, that is what we needed and she did a great job and now we need her to score more. She still needs to rebound, she still needs to defend, but we need her to score more. And I already see it in practice," Graves said.

Bowen knows what is expected of her and said she has been focusing on the offensive side of her game. 

"I want to be a better scorer, that is something I need to work on this year is my shooting in particular and just trying to hunt my shot more, to really step into that role as the third primary leading scorer behind Katelan and Kayla," Bowen said.

Standish agreed that Bowen's role this season has grown, but also has confidence in her teammate's ability.

"I think she is going to fill in as Janelle's (Bekkering) spot as our defensive stopper, but also a very good offensive threat. She has many positions that she needs to fill and she will because she knows what she needs to do," Standish said. 

Graves has not only been impressed with Bowen's abilities on the court, but the character and personality she displays every day.

 "The great thing about Kelly is she gives us something in a lot of different areas. Off the court, she gives us light-heartedness; she has a great attitude, fun-loving, she is a really pleasant person to be around every day," Graves said. "In practice she is obviously a hard worker, she is a great leader. There is not one player out here that doesn't like her a lot. She has the capability to be a great leader."

Bowen and the Bulldogs begin their 2011-2012 season Nov. 2 in an exhibition matchup against Corban University at the McCarthey Athletic Center.