Michigan State University Athletics
Lindsay Bowen: A Leader From Day One
11/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2005
By Kate McMaster, Big Ten Conference
As a life-long Spartan fan, Lindsay Bowen did not have a difficult decision to make when choosing a university to further her academic and basketball careers. Bowen was a highly recruited athlete coming out of Dansville High School in Dansville, Michigan, where she was a four-time all-state selection, scored over 2,500 points in her career, and was a runner-up for the title of Michigan Miss Basketball, but she made the decision to stay close to home and play for the team she has followed since she was a child.
"There were a lot of factors that came into play with deciding to come to Michigan State," she said. "It's close to home, and being about a half hour from campus I've always been a Spartan fan. More than that it was about the coaches, and the facilities and atmosphere were the best."
The decision has proven to be a good one for Bowen. She made an immediate impact as a freshman, starting every game and being named as the Big Ten's co-Freshman of the Year with teammate Liz Shimek. Shimek, coincidentally, also edged Bowen for the Michigan Miss Basketball title in 2002. "She and I have lived together since we were freshmen and we played on the same AAU team together before that. We both kind of come from the same background and both work hard, so I guess we've been linked together because of all those things," said Bowen.
The senior captain wasn't sure what her role on the team would be as a freshman. "I pretty much just wanted to work hard because that's what I've always been taught- to work hard and things will happen eventually. I just came in and went after it with that kind of attitude, and my freshman year experience turned out to be great, and has really helped me these past two to three years."
Success as a freshman never comes easily, but with help from the upperclassmen, Bowen's transition to life at Michigan State went fairly smoothly. "At times it was really overwhelming," said Bowen, who is a Big Ten All-Academic selection. "I was a freshman learning all the plays and the system, but the older players were a great help." Bowen also enrolled at the school and began taking classes in the summer before her freshman year to ease into her new environment and get acclimated with the campus.
It is because of these experiences that she was named as a tri-captain this season, as she moves to full-time point guard after splitting time at that position and shooting guard for the past three years.
"I expect to be a leader on the floor," said Bowen. "From the point guard position you kind of have to take control of the team. I think we have a potential to be a great team again this year, we just need to be focused on what we have to do as individuals and what our role is and hopefully it will all come together in the end."
The Spartans have returned three starters from last year's team that advanced to the Final Four for the first time after winning the Big Ten Championship, and set a school record with 33 wins. The Spartan men also advanced to the Final Four, and were defeated by eventual-champion North Carolina. "I think it was a great accomplishment for both teams," said Bowen. "They had an amazing run as well as we did."
The women had to get through Tennessee in the Final Four to advance to the championship game, and for a while it didn't look like they were going to be able to pull it out. The Spartans found themselves down by 16 points at halftime, but never gave up, fighting back for the 68-64 win, and a trip to the national championship game. "The high point was obviously beating Tennessee," said Bowen, who scored a game-high 18 points against the Lady Vols. "We were down by so many points and came back, and that's what our team was all about last year - fighting and never giving up. The celebration in the locker room after we won was great."
Their Final Four experience has earned Michigan State a top-15 national ranking this season, and several individuals are finalists for national awards. Bowen has been named a finalist for the Wooden Award, one of the most prestigious honors in college basketball that is awarded to the nation's best player.
Entering the season, the guard has racked up over 1,300 points, and is just 353 points shy of the Michigan State record. She is already the Spartan's best career three-point shooter with 226 made, and has also hit over 42 percent of her three-pointers through her time at MSU. She has also started every game of her four-year career.
With her senior season underway, her favorite times as a Spartan are not breaking records. "It's just the being a part of this team and building friendships on and off the court, and fighting and competing together." She will never forget winning the Big Ten Championship last season, or what it was like to win in the Final Four. "You get rings for that, and that's been my dream ever since I was very young," she said. In her senior season, she wants to exceed other people's expectations for her team, and go as far as she knows they can go.
"Our team motto is `Dream Big' and we've been able to do that to this point," she said. "We just have to keep it going and build on what we were able to do last year."
