The Clause

Sophomore international business major and current forward for the APU women’s basketball team, Alex Moore-Porter transferred to Azusa Pacific in the fall of 2008. Moore-Porter has quickly found her niche as women’s basketball team’s lead scorer this season.

“She’s definitely a scorer. [Moore-Porter] can score pretty much whenever she feels like it. She’s a very versatile player,” junior center Kristie Hala’ufia said.

Moore-Porter began playing basketball competitively at the age of 14 and competed at nationals with her Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team that year.

In the fall of her freshman year at Lakeside High in Seattle, Washington, Moore-Porter experienced an unanticipated setback.

“I had a two-year hiatus starting freshman year. I tore my right ACL right before my freshman season. And then my sophomore year, the next season after I rehabbed my right ACL, I tore my left one,” Moore-Porter said.

Because of these unforeseen setbacks, Moore-Porter had her first full season of high school basketball as a junior. As a 2007 senior, she was already averaging 20 points per game and took her place as the fifth leading scorer in Washington that year. In her two seasons of high school basketball she tallied 923 points.

Moore-Porter continued to pursue basketball in Washington at Yakama Valley Community College where she was named a second-team East Region All-Star in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges.

In the fall of 2008, after playing only one year at Yakama Valley, she transferred to Azusa Pacific.

“I was looking for a program, not just in basketball, but where all sports were winning. It was obvious that this program was very competitive and committed to their athletes. I was also looking for good education,” Moore-Porter said.

Although her university search involved mostly state schools at first, Azusa Pacific’s competitive program as a private Christian University began to take on more of an appeal for Moore-Porter.

“It was really the best of both worlds to come to this school and the fact that it integrates Christian faith was a big deal for me. This seemed more of a good fit for me to grow and be the best person and the best basketball player I can be,” Moore-Porter said.

This season has proved successful for Moore-Porter, as she has become the leading scorer, averaging 18 points per game, and one of the top rebounders for the Cougars.

“I knew I wanted to be an impact player and I knew I wanted my role to be significant. I really put the time into making sure I could maximize my role for my team,” Moore-Porter said.

Moore-Porter has proved herself as an inside player, a scorer and a student of the game and plans on continuing with basketball after graduation.

“I would love to pursue basketball professionally—hopefully in Europe. I would love to play in Italy someday,” Moore-Porter said.

As of now it looks like Moore-Porter is headed in the right direction of pursuing her long-term ambitions.

“My dreams are big. I’d really love to play over there [in Europe] and make a career. To me, the sky is the limit and I’m going to work hard to get there,” Moore-Porter said.

Hard work and determination seem to be a theme of Cougars women’s basketball team this season, as the dynamic and leadership has shifted from last year.

“We’re getting better. We’re very young and with being so young we’ve had to learn a lot of things about how to handle pressure, and how to work with one another and make each other better,” head coach T.J. Hardeman said.

The women’s basketball team is made up primarily of freshman and sophomores this season, with two juniors and no seniors. The Cougars had an overall record of 18-9 before yesterday’s game.

“I call her a renaissance player and basically that means she can do a little of everything. She can score inside, she’s our leading free-throw percentage player, and she can make 3-pointers. She brings us a little of everything which makes us hard to guard,” Hardeman said.

Women’s basketball has their next home game against San Diego Christian Thursday, Feb. 26, at 5:30pm in the Felix Event Center.