If the 2009-10 basketball season turns out to be the end of Daesha Henderson’s competitive career, she will have saved the best for last.
Henderson, a 2006 graduate of Snohomish High School, went on to play four seasons at Seattle Pacific University, where she became one of the top players in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). And her final season was the best of all, as Henderson not only helped the Falcons reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II women’s tournament, but also was named the GNAC’s Player of the Year.
For these accomplishments, the 23-year-old Henderson is The Herald’s Woman of the Year in Sports for 2010.
Henderson, a guard, was instrumental to SPU’s success at both ends of the court. In her senior season she finished ninth in the league in scoring at 13.3 points a game, seventh in assists at 2.7, and first in steals at 2.5.
For her outstanding efforts, she received eight of nine possible votes for Player of the Year in the GNAC, and was a unanimous pick to the all-conference team.
“It was,” she said, “a pretty awesome accomplishment. And it was not just a reflection of me, but a reflection of my team. You need to be on a winning program to be able to achieve a goal like that. So it’s not something where I thought, ‘I really want to be the Player of the Year.’ It just kind of happened.
“It’s a huge compliment to my coaches and my teammates, and everybody who helped me to become that player.”
In addition, Henderson was a third-team choice on the Division II Women’s Bulletin All-America team, an honorable mention All-America pick by the Women’s Basketball Coaches of America, and a Women’s Basketball Coaches Association NCAA Division II West Region first-team choice.
And, proving that top athletes can also be excellent students, Henderson was selected to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/ESPN The Magazine Academic Women’s Basketball All-District VIII team. She had a 3.49 grade-point-average in biology.
For Henderson, though, what stands out about her last college season was SPU’s trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Her previous teams had all reached the NCAA tournament, but had never advanced past the Sweet 16.
“Making it to the Elite Eight was something that was pretty special,” she said. “It was something that not that many people get to do in their careers.”
In December, Henderson had a tryout with a pro team in Bonn, Germany, but she did not receive a contract and came back to the Seattle area. She’s working as a nanny as she prepares to apply for dental school, and she still plays occasionally with club and rec-league teams.
“It’s a chance to keep playing, but it’s more for fun,” she said.
As Henderson looks back on a basketball career that began in Snohomish and continued on to a remarkable senior season at SPU, she says her fondest memories involve “being part of a team. And that’s probably the thing I’ll miss the most. The road trips and traveling together.”
“You develop such a bond with 10 to 15 girls every year, and I think that’s something that I absolutely loved,” she said. “SPU was a very tight-knit community, as was Snohomish, so that’s something I’ll always miss. And the games were always fun.
“I just think I grew a lot as a person and as a leader, and in ways that I would not necessarily have been able to do without my basketball experiences.”
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