By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Kassin Hopkins (Sr., Connell, WA/Connell HS/Bellevue College) has established herself as Willamette University's leading scorer through 19 games during the 2019-20 women's basketball season. She tops Willamette's offensive chart with 11.7 points per game and has scored in double figures 13 times this year.

Even so, scoring isn't her only contribution to the Bearcats. She ranks first on the team with 37 successful three-pointers and leads Willamette with 83 rebounds for an average of 4.4 rebounds per game. She is shooting a team-high 81.3% (39 of 48) at the free throw line. Perhaps most importantly, she plays with lots of confidence, which makes her a key contributor in close games and allows her to provide leadership for Willamette's younger players.

She is willing to shoot from outside. She can drive to the basket for a layup. She is ready to shoot when the shot clock is winding down. She can find an open opponent. She will battle for a rebound and dive to the floor if needed. Hopkins is determined to find a way to help the Bearcats, and she has been successful in so many ways.

Hopkins scored a career-high 22 points this season against Pomona Pitzer (Calif.) on Nov. 15, while hitting a career-high five 3-point baskets. She scored 20 points the next day against the University of California, Santa Cruz. Willamette won both games, 72-58 versus Pomona-Pitzer and 78-70 in overtime against UC-Santa Cruz. Hopkins earned 20 points in an 85-72 Northwest Conference win at Whitworth University on Jan. 10.

She has gathered in five or more rebounds in 10 games this season, with a career-high of seven boards against California Institute of Technology on Nov. 27 and versus Linfield College on Jan. 18. She tied a career high with six assists, and set a career high with three steals, in the season opener against Northwest Christian University on Nov. 9.

In two season with the Bearcats, Hopkins has played in 43 games with 29 starts. She has scored 418 points for an average of 9.7 points per game. She also has grabbed 144 rebounds, an average of 3.3 boards per game. She has converted 80.8% of her career free throws (75 of 93).

Hopkins is one of two Willamette players with double-digit scoring averages. Her average of 11.7 points per game is closely followed by Sami Riggs (Fy., G, La Verne, CA/Bonita HS) with 10.8 points per game. Willamette's overall scoring in relatively balanced, with Ava Kitchin (Fy., F, Redmond, OR/Redmond HS) providing 7.8 points per game, Drew Farmer (Sr., PG, Brookings, OR/Brookings-Harbor HS) and Elizabeth Logsdon (Sr., F, McMinnville, OR/McMinnville HS) averaging 7.2 points per game, and Amanda Carpenter (Jr., G, Beaverton, OR/Sunset HS) scoring 6.7 points per game.

On the rebounding chart, the same six players, plus Ashlyn Ascuena-Mercil (Fy., F, Boise, ID/Timberline HS), are averaging more than 3.5 boards per game. Hopkins and Logsdon lead the way at 4.4 rebounds per contest, with Kitchin at 4.2, Riggs at 4.1, Farmer at 3.9, Carpenter at 3.7, and Ascuena-Mercil at 3.6.

Willamette has allowed just 62.9 points per game this season, while limiting opponents to only 30.1% success from 3-point range. The Bearcats have held eight opponents to 60 or fewer points, with WU earning a 7-1 record in those games.

The Bearcats enter this weekend with an 11-8 overall record. Willamette is 5-5 and tied for fourth place with Linfield in the NWC standings. The top four teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the NWC Tournament.

Willamette will host Whitman College, ranked #8 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, in a Northwest Conference game on Friday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. (PST). On Saturday, Feb. 8, Willamette will take on NWC rival Whitworth at 4 p.m. Both games will be played at Cone Field House.