Alexa Fisher
OHIO DOMINICAN
Fatigue has set in for Alexa Fisher in her first full season of college basketball because she is doing heavy lifting for an Ohio Dominican team so beat up that there are seven healthy players.
Basketball, though, hasn’t been this much fun and rewarding since her junior year at Olentangy Liberty.
Those who follow high school basketball remember Fisher as one of the driving forces behind Liberty’s first district championship team in 2015, but also a hard-luck story the following season when she played in only a handful of games because of a knee injury and the surgery that followed.
The Panthers (18-10, 14-8) will lean heavily on Fisher against Findlay in the first round of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Cedarville. She is averaging 13.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals and shooting 36 percent from three-point range.
“We started with 14 players, but two freshmen left the team in preseason and then we had four really bad injuries,” Fisher said. “That has brought us closer because we know we’ve got to step up. We’ve got freshmen playing significant roles. A lot of us have had to play 40 minutes the last three games, and it has been taxing.”
Fisher transferred from Nebraska-Omaha, a Division I team, after last season. She had no complaints about the team other than she wanted more of a family atmosphere.
The thought of sitting out a season moving to a Division I university didn’t appeal to her. Liberty coach Sam Krafty reminded her that Ohio Dominican coach Lynsey Warren once recruited her hard.
“Coach Krafty said so many good things about Ohio Dominican, and then I started talking with coach Warren,” Fisher said. “Now, I’ve got a great relationship with my college coach. I totally agree with what coach Warren is doing here. We have the same values. It’s a family atmosphere, and you don’t find that a lot. College sports a lot of times is a business.”
Fisher credits NebraskaOmaha for improving her basketball IQ. The time far away from home helped her “grow and develop independence.”
“I loved Omaha — it’s an awesome city — and I was challenged mentally and physically in basketball,” she said.
The right knee finally is sound after Fisher had cartilage surgery during the summer, and she’s playing the point after being something of a combination guard early in the season. She has started 27 of 28 games.
“My mindset is controlling the game and having the ball in my hands, and playing point guard has been enjoyable,” Fisher said.
Fisher, who has two more seasons of eligibility, is an education major. Her goal is to become a high school intervention specialist. Coaching in high school also is a plan.
Others to watch
— The senior guard from Upper Arlington is averaging 5.9 points and 2.9 rebounds and has started 23 of 25 games.
— The junior guard from Newark is averaging 13.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals.