BEREA, OHIO - It would make sense to begin this story by making a comparison with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and Tim Duncan, or Batman and Robin for the matter. But to compare the relationships of those prolific athletes (characters) would not do justice to the relationship that Baldwin Wallace University senior basketball players Amanda Mondrach and Rachael Quiring have shared with each other.
"She's like my sister", is a statement that can be attributed to either Mondrach or Quiring during the past four seasons on the Berea, Ohio based campus. But the statement began long before their days as Yellow Jackets.
When March 2009 rolls around, it will mark the end of an era for these two standouts.
The pair began playing basketball against each other in fourth grade. They became teammates in eighth grade when they both played for the Score More Athletic Club AAU team, then continued on as teammates for four years for veteran coach Judy Blair at Parma Heights Holy Name High School. This marks their fourth season as teammates at BW and ninth overall.
It will not only mark the end of their basketball careers as teammates, but Mondrach and Quiring are roommates too, and have been since their freshman year at BW.
"I love living with her," said Quiring, an Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference point guard who carries a 3.3 grade average in pre-physical therapy and exercise science. "She makes me laugh, which is the best part."
"We never get on each other's nerves like roommates tend to do," added Mondrach, who carries a 3.3 grade average in business administration and sport management. "I like to come home and be comfortable and I'm comfortable with her in every way."
They are the perfect yin and yang. Quiring is the outspoken, self-described loud and rambunctious type, whileMondrach is "reserved" as Quiring described her.
"I keep her grounded, while she opens me up," said Mondrach, who has started at either point or wing all four seasons at BW and this season averages 6.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. "We are just best friends, simple as that."
While their fun-loving nature in their apartment or in a social setting is apparent to everyone around them, they are more serious on the hardwood. Don't take that the wrong way! Their friendship is apparent on the court, only it is accompanied by hard work, something that is imperative in 18-year Head Coach Cheri Harrer's system.
The veteran head coach calls them blue-collar.
"Mondie is possibly the most coachable player ever to play in our program," said Harrer, who is the winningest women's coach in BW history and among the nation's top active NCAA Division III coaches. "She is truly a blue-collar kid who works as hard as she can every time she steps onto the floor.
"They are both outstanding young women who have bright futures ahead of them because of their hardwork," added Harrer. "We are very fortunate to have them."
"We" as in team.
"They've reached out to other members of the team to bring the unit close together, which helps," added Harrer. "They are simply examples of the perfect team player. They will do whatever it takes to help the team win.
That sentiment is echoed by Quiring, Mondrach and graduated forward Stacia Shrider '08, a three-year starter, who shared more minutes on the floor with them than any other Yellow Jacket player.
"Playing with them for three years, you can tell they totally have this team attitude and want what's best for the team," said Shrider, who is now an assistant coach at OAC-rival Heidelberg College, BW's opponent on January 3 in Tiffin (game is live on campus radio station WBW, 88.3 FM, and via WBW's Internet Web site at www.wBW.com. "They would do anything in their power to help the team win."
Mondrach's and Quiring's camaraderie is the driving force behind the unification on the team.
"We complement each other very well on the floor," said Quiring, who scores a career-high 8.3 ppg., grabs a career-high 3.3 rpg. and leads the team with 21 assists.
They support each other and their teammates unlike any duo Shrider has ever seen.
"Playing with good teammates like that," said Shrider, "is an experience I'll never forget. It is an example to the younger players and contributed to our successes."
With that trio in the lineup, BW compiled a 73-15 record with two OAC regular season titles and two OAC Tournament championships and NCAA Division III National Tournament appearances in both 2005-2006 and 2007-2008. En route, Mondrach is a three-time All-OAC pick and joined Shrider on last spring's team. All three have earned Academic All-OAC accolades.
Their skill sets complement each other as well. Quiring is an excellent ball handler, effective off the dribble, and plays great on-the-ball defense. Mondrach is known for reading defenses to get open for a three-pointer, moves well without the ball and plays outstanding help-side defense.
They also each compensate for each other's weaknesses, although Quiring said of Mondrach with a chuckle, "She doesn't have that many."
For all their closeness, it strikes one as surprising that they landed at BW coincidentally. Harrer was at a Holy Name game recruiting Mondrach, a shooting guard, but does not typically recruit two players from the same high school team. Harrer, also in need of a quality point guard, asked Mondrach if she would mind if
she began recruiting Quiring, and naturally, Mondrach said no.
BW was the only common school each applied to. Mondrach made her decision in late April and Quiringfollowed suit a few weeks later, albeit separately. "I didn't plan on going to BW at first," explained Quiring, "but we both though it would be cool to continue playing together."
While their remaining time together is limited, the memories they've made, not to mention their friendship, will last a lifetime.
Quiring recalls finding out (before Mondrach) that Mondrach would be in the starting line-up for her first collegiate game. Before each season, Harrer holds a private conference with each student-athlete to discuss her expectations of them and their role for the season.
Quiring's conference came before Mondrach, and Harrer told Quiring that Mondrach would be starting.
"I was just so proud for her," said Quiring. "I started my freshman year in high school, but Mondie didn't play that much that year. I was just so happy that I could experience that with her."
Mondrach started every game her freshman year with the streaking reaching 97 straight games to date by including this season's 4-5 record prior to BW's trip to San Antonio, Texas on December 29-30 to play in the Trinity University Texas Classic. In a very steady career, she has scored 871 points, grabbed 274 rebounds,
passed for 151 assists, made 64 steals and canned 91 three-pointers.
Quiring has come on strong the past two seasons and has improved each season. She enters the Texas Classic with 439 career points, 133 rebounds, 156 assists, 64 steals and 39 three-pointers.
As freshman, Mondrach was second on the team in scoring at 10.0 ppg. and among the team leaders in several other catagories. Quiring played in 20 contests and averaged 2.2 ppg. The team finished 27-5 overall and advanced the "Elite Eight" of the NCAA tourney.
A year later, Quiring joined Mondrach in the starting lineup and scored 5.0 ppg. and led the squad with 62 assists. Mondrach 9.5 ppg., passed for 37 assists, made 24 three-pointers and made 20 steals. BW finished 19-7 overall.
Last season was the first full campaign with both of them in the starting lineup. It equalled a solid 27-3 record with both an OAC regular season and OAC Tournament title. A second round loss to Hope (Mich.) College ended another excellent season where Mondrach scored 8.3 ppg. and again led the team with 32 three-pointers. Quiring tallied a career-high 7.0 ppg. and was second with 61 assists.
Their statistics are indicative of the way they mesh together on the court. "We know each other inside and out," said Quiring.
"We can just read each other on the court," said Mondrach.
"They know everything there is to know about each other," said Harrer. "Defensively, they complement each other very well."
Mondrach and Quiring both know the number of games they have left together is working toward zero. At the end of the day, or their careers, it will be back to the apartment to discuss, among other things, basketball. But there still will be the bond between them that will last long after each girl graduates in May. A new phase of their respective lives will begin, but they will still be lifelong teammates and friends.
