PALATINE, Ill. – Harper College freshman women's basketball player Tamara Zivak (/Barrington) almost went away to play at NCAA Division III school DePauw University in Indiana, but she choose to come to Harper College to focus on school.
After interacting with some Harper players and coaches, she made the decision to pursue her passion and come out for the basketball team. She's glad she did.
Zivak, who was named the NJCAA Region IV Div. III Women's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, can another award to her resume. She is the third Harper College Athlete of the Week for the 2015-16 school year.
The 5-foot-11 freshman has shown tremendous growth as a player in such a short span. In her first 18 games of the season, she never scored more than 13 points in a game. In the last five games, she has emerged as the team's top scoring option, averaging 16.4 PPG to go along with 5.6 RPG. She has even proven to be a rim protector, blocking six shots in the past five contests, and she has also swatted a career-best four shots on Jan. 9 against Triton College.
"She's comfortable taking a jump shot, and I've been encouraging her to attack the basket aggressively," said Harper head coach Jenny Turpel. "She's starting to see success from doing that. Starting the year, I saw a lot of potential from her, and it's nice to see what I thought she was capable of."
Her most impressive effort came on Jan. 23 at Milwaukee Area Technical College, a game in which she scored a career-high 25 points. Zivak credits her success in recent weeks to getting used to the speed of the college game as well as a confidence in her abilities.
"It's now more like I know I can make those shots, and I'm more confident. I like to take control of games," Zivak said.
Zivak's two recent games have been impressive as well. She scored a team-best 17 points against nationally-ranked Rock Valley College last weekend, and she finished with 16 points at Triton College on Wednesday. For her, playing college basketball is a joy.
"I'm super glad I decided to play. I love basketball. If the opportunity arises to play, I'm going to play" she said. "Everyone's competition. Everyone's good. You always have to be on your "A" game."
