Aurelie Bevao overcame a major knee injury to lead the Reedley College women's basketball team in scoring in 2019-2020. The successful comeback enabled the Tigers' star guard to earn a scholarship to continue her collegiate career this fall at Idaho State University.
Aurelie Bevao
Bevao, a 5-6 redshirt freshman, sat out early games as she completed the rehabilitation of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee she suffered before the start of the 2018-19 season. But she came on strong to average 15.6 points per game — 17.2 ppg in Central Valley Conference play including a career-high 39 points against College of the Sequoias — to catch the attention of ISU head coach Seton Sobolewski and associate head coach Ryan Johnson.
"I think it's the best choice for me to go to Idaho and become a Bengal," said Bevao, who also drew interest from Colorado State and Fresno State. "I talked to some of the girls, and it's a great program. And I like the coaches."
"What really attracted us to her was two-fold. Her athleticism and she's a really good shooter," said Johnson, who was the main recruiter. "With our system, having somebody who's a really good shooter is important and she fills that bill. She's got an opportunity to play right away for us."
Before tearing her ACL in a preseason practice for RC in 2018, Bevao had been a standout point guard during her prep days at Lycée Roland Garros High School in Tampon, Reunion, a small island nation east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean region. After sitting out the 2018-19 season, she worked hard to strengthen her knee and saw spot action in two November games before returning to the lineup in mid-December.
Serving more as a shooting guard, Bevao scored 16 points in her first game back against Golden West College. She later scored 27 points against Shasta College and then turned up her scoring production in CVC play. In a four-game stretch, she averaged just over 25 points per game including 39 against COS (a 68-63 victory) and 29 against Fresno City College (a 79-68 win).
"She's a great shooter, and great competitor," RC coach Dan Kilbert said. "She literally carried us in the COS game and worked so hard to get healthy. She understands the game really well."
While it's been difficult to get in any substantial basketball workouts because of the COVID-19 situation and shelter in place status, Bevao has made the most of her offseason conditioning. She currently is residing in Lindsay with RC teammate Verenice Alcocer, who will continue her own collegiate basketball career this fall at Missouri Valley College.
"I'm not able to shoot right now, which is annoying, but I'm able to do a lot of running on the treadmill," Bevao said. "I'm feeling really good right now, and doing what I can in order to stay in shape."
Bevao is majoring in kinesiology with plans to go into physical therapy for athletes. She continues a heavy homework schedule online in completing her associate's degree studies.
"I've made a lot of great friends from the team, coaches, and people at the college. We have good harmony," Bevao said. "I really want to give a shout out to Coach Kilbert for all he's done for me."
Verenice Alcocer
Sophomore forward Alcocer had modest statistics in her two seasons with the Tigers, but still impressed coaches at Missouri Valley, an NAIA college in mid-state Marshall, Mo. She took a video tour of the campus with coaches and was given an opportunity to continue her collegiate career.
"I'm super excited, and thankful for Coach Kilbert's work," she said. "He was one of the first coaches to stay in contact."
As a sophomore, Alcocer averaged almost three points and four rebounds and played every game as the Tigers finished 12-16. She twice had single game-highs of nine points.
Alcocer, a Lindsay High graduate, is majoring in nursing and has a goal to become a registered nurse. She's taking a full online course load as she finishes up at RC.
"I would love to work in level-one trauma or in emergency medicine," Alcocer said.
By: Jon Earnest / https://www.midvalleytimes.com/lady-tigers-bevao-moves-on-to-idaho-state-university/
