Jacobs' Pucci thriving at Loras

It's easy to figure out why Jacobs graduate Natalie Pucci is thriving as a scorer for the Loras College (Dubuque, Iowa) women's basketball team.

"Shooting is what I like to do," said Pucci. "It's what I spend the majority of my time doing. I'm in the gym an extra hour or two a day taking a couple hundred extra shots."

And as they say, practice has made perfect.

To start the week, Pucci, a 5-foot-10 inch senior guard, was leading Division III Loras (13-7 to start the week) in scoring at 16.3 points per game. She was also averaging a team-high 32.9 minutes of playing time.

Pucci, part of the 2004 Jacobs girls team that advanced to the Class AA state quarterfinals, was also tops on the team in 3-pointers made with 50 and was shooting .404 from the field, .385 from the 3-point line and a team-best .837 from the free-throw line.

Pucci ranked second in the IIAC in scoring, second in 3-pointers made per game and was second in minutes played per game. She broke the Loras career 3-pointers made record earlier this season (she's made over 200 in her career).

"Everybody knows Natalie is a shooter, but she's smart with the ball," said Loras interim coach Justin Heinzen. "She's one of the best pure-shooting Division III scorers. She's in the gym every day working to get better. She's never satisfied with what she did the last game. She's always in the gym doing individual workouts with the coaching staff. There is always something to work on with her. There isn't a day she's not in the gym shooting. Her commitment level makes her go from a good player to a great player."

Pucci is also happy to get her teammates involved in the action.

"She's second on our team in assists," said Heinzen. "In our last 10 games she's been in the box score with 4, 5 and 6 assists. She sees the floor well and knows how to read the defenses."

Heinzen has also seen Pucci grow in the leadership area this season.

"What a lot of people don't know about her is that she is a smart leader," said Heinzen. "She knows when to say the right things. A lot of people look up to her. You hear the lead by example thing. It's cliché. But it's exactly how she operates."

But Pucci said some of her great advancements this season have come on the defensive end.

"I've been working on my defense, but I still struggle with it," said Pucci, who was the MVP at the Rockford College tournament earlier this season. "But I've improved on it over the last three years. In high school we played a lot of zone. In Loras it's been more man-to-man. I think not playing man-to-man in high school kind of hurt me. I've been working on my quickness and my feet. I've improved on my footwork and my agility and speed. That's helped me with the man-to-man aspects."

Being an accomplished marksman from the outside is something that goes with Pucci's personality.

"Shooting is really fun," said Pucci. "I always played on my driveway at home. It goes with me. I'm laid back and shy. It goes with the personality. I'm not someone who likes to drive to the basket and be physical. It all goes together."

Putting in countless extra hours is easy, especially with the admiration Pucci has for the game.

"I have the heart and passion for the game," said Pucci, who was named the conference female athlete of the week in December. "That's never come down for me. I've always had the desire to practice. It's all practice, practice. I've worked my butt off all my life. It's paid off."

And draining a 3-pointer during a game is icing on the cake for Pucci.

"For sure it's my favorite," said Pucci. "When you hit a shot, it's a huge momentum change. It makes a big difference."

Pucci has also thoroughly enjoyed her time playing at Loras -- especially when it comes to conference play.

"The best thing has been the conference we play in all four years," said Pucci, who has played for three different coaches at Loras, but said the transitions have been smooth with each change.

"It's been the most competitive conference. It's anybody's game on any given night. We just played the last team in the conference and went to overtime. It's the coolest thing. It's so competitive. You can't beat that."

Pucci, whose grade-point average is above 3.0, is an elementary education major (with a math endorsement). She's currently observing a fourth-grade class in Iowa. She observed second grade last semester and is scheduled to start student-teaching this fall.

"This has been the fastest four years of my life," said Pucci. "It's all hit home. I've got five games left in my career. I want to go out with a bang in these last few games."

Swanson earns award: Elgin High School alum Parker Swanson was recently named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's North/Central scholar athlete team. The NSCAA/adidas award selects 16 individuals to the North/Central team on merits of academic and athletics success. Swanson is a senior elementary education major at Manchester College.

Swanson was cited for his 3.53 grade-point average and was one of 6 Chicago-area soccer players named to the squad.

Swanson finished the 2007 season with 10 goals and 4 assists. He ranked second in the conference in both points and goals scored. Swanson helped the Spartans tie a school record for wins in a season (12-6-2 overall record).

Swanson ended his 4-year career at Manchester with 36 goals and 13 assists. Swasnon has been named to the all-HCAC first team and the all-HCAC academic team.

Walker at Western: Hampshire grad Amanda Walker was averaging 8.8 points per game to start the week for the Western Illinois University women's basketball team. Walker had also made a team-high 28 3-pointers (.412 accuracy) and was shooting .837 from the free-throw line. Walker also had 70 assists against only 28 turnovers. Western was 11-11 overall and 9-2 in Summit League play to start the week.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley-area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at difibulator@aol.com.