“A senior, from South Portland, Maine, # 21, Emily “The Big House” Haeuser”

December 6, 2009

I have had the privilege of playing college basketball with Emily Haeuser for nearly three years now. As teammates who both have shared and continue to share the hopes of turning around the women’s basketball program here at Vassar, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs together, a lot of late night conversations filled sometimes with frustration and angst, sometimes with excitement and pride. Together, we have lived through three different coaching staffs in three years, a lot of losses, and a good deal of disappointment.

The result of these shared experiences? An incredible friendship and an innumerable amount of great memories. I’ve come to respect our senior co-captain, “House” as we call her, more than just about any teammate I’ve ever had. For these reasons, watching her reach the milestone of 1,000 career points in our game against Brooklyn yesterday was a special experience.

House’s 1000th point came on the free throw of an old-fashioned three-point play (her second of three consecutive ‘and-1’s, no big deal). It seemed like a pretty typical play for us: we got the ball to House, she sunk her signature lefty baby-hook shot in the paint while getting fouled, and drained the free throw to finish off the play. I was so used to seeing this exact play that I had no clue what was going on when they stopped the game to announce the accomplishment. She’s just that automatic.

Eclipsing the 1,000 point milestone is just another of House’s many accomplishments in her career at Vassar. She currently sits 7th on the all-time scoring list at Vassar and will probably finish her career in the top five. She already holds the record for most career blocks and has a good chance of snatching the all-time rebounding record before she hangs up her VC uniform. She was All-League Honorable Mention her sophomore year and Second Team All-League her junior year. But statistics are just statistics. House has been the captain of our team for the past three years and has been a continuously reliable and dependable leader. Although she has dealt with more adversity in her Vassar career than anyone else I can think of, she is always the hardest worker every day in practice and consistently shows up to play. She has truly been the heart of this program for the past three years.

It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t pull out a win for House on this memorable day in her career, as we fell to Brooklyn College, 54-48 despite an intense, gritty effort. Knowing House, I’m confident she would have traded the milestone for a win, no questions asked. But instead we sit at 2-4 and will look to keep working hard and steal a win at Western Connecticut on Tuesday night. It won’t be easy, but we’ll have our fearless leader, our House, and that is always an advantage.