Time flies when you’re making shots

Four years ago Amely Del Rosario and her mother, Olga Garcia, were sitting in Eric Harrison’s office at Lehman College as the diminutive, low-scoring point guard was searching for a college basketball home. After four fairly non-descript seasons at John F. Kennedy High School, Del Rosario’s choices were limited.

But Harrison, Lehman’s long-time women’s head basketball coach, saw something he liked in Del Rosario and he made his best pitch to both player and mother. And the two bought what Harrison was selling.

“We talked about what could be here and everything we expected then has come true now,” Harrison said. “When Amely came in we were coming off a five-win season and the record wasn’t selling itself but the history of the program was. So I told her she was going to be the person who was going to resurrect the program. She was going to be someone who was going to turn our program into a championship team.”

Fast forward four years and last week there was Del Rosario, the lone senior being honored on Senior Night, being feted with a pregame ceremony prior to Lehman’s game with Medgar Evers. Del Rosario was awarded a framed replica of her No. 21 jersey and another frame containing a montage of photos of her career highlights. She also received a crystal basketball.

And during the entirety of the ceremony Del Rosario wondered: Where did the time go?

“It was a very nice ceremony,” Del Rosario said. “Coach said I was going to cry but I had to be tough and try not to. My mom was about to get emotional so I couldn’t look at her. She was all teary-eyed so I had to tell her, ‘C’mon mom, don’t do this.’ But it makes you think that it’s all coming to an end. It’s slowly approaching.”

Del Rosario, playing her final City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) home game, went out in grand fashion (was there ever any doubt?) as she poured on 29 points in a 97-51 victory over Medgar Evers. She capped her weekend by scoring a game-high 19 points in a key 79-75 road victory at the College of Staten Island Friday night as the Lightning won their 11th straight CUNYAC game to pull into a tie for first place in the conference with a 13-2 record.

But now with just a non-league game against Purchase College Thursday night before this weekend’s CUNYAC Tournament, Del Rosario finds herself reflecting on a college career she never saw coming.

“I came out of high school scoring four points a game but coach told me I had the ability to be an explosive player,” said Del Rosario, who will finish as Lehman’s second all-time leading scorer with a chance to top 2,000 career points. (The school’s leader is Sally Nnamani with 2,113 points). He put in the work with me and I feel like I put in a lot of work with a good outcome. We won the (CUNYAC) championship last year and now we’re on a roll to possibly repeat this year which I think we have a good chance of doing.”

Del Rosario has a laundry list of accomplishments during her four-year hitch at Lehman. There was the CUNYAC Rookie of the Year her freshman season, a year which saw her named the CUNYAC Rookie of the Week six times and be just one of three Division III players in the nation to lead their conference in scoring. In her junior year she was named the CUNYAC Preseason Player of the Year, set a school record by scoring 48 points in a victory over Hunter College, was named the CUNYAC Player of the Week five times, earned the MVP award in the CUNYAC tournament, led Lehman to its first CUNYAC championship in nine years and was named the conference’s Player of the Year.

So how would she describe her stellar career?

“Surprising. A lot of things happened that I really didn’t expect,” said Del Rosario, who was also recently profiled in both Sports Illustrated and Newsweek. “Getting Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year last year, all of that was something I didn’t come in expecting but it was great that I accomplished it. My teammates helped me do that, of course. But it was very surprising.”

Del Rosario said she had one goal in mind when she arrived at Lehman.

“To try and win a championship,” she said. “And we finally did it last year and we went to the NCAA Tournament. But this year I see it happening again. That’s my main goal, to try and get two championships before I leave.”

With Thursday game vs. Purchase marking her final college home game, and with any loss in the CUNYAC Tournament ending her career, Del Rosario knows the end is coming soon. So how will the 5-foot-5-inch dynamo feel when the game clock is running out for the final time?

“I might cry then,” Del Rosario said laughing. “That’s when it’s really going to hit me. It will be tough to take the uniform off for the last time. My mom is going to be very emotional. This is something she always wanted. She always told me, ‘Go to school for four years and do what you love doing.’ She always stood by me so I think it’s going to be emotional, finishing up and seeing how happy she is going to be about it.”

It will be a somber day for Harrison as well when Del Rosario plays her final game in a Lehman uniform.

“She has become the face of the program,” said Harrison, the CUNYAC all-time leader in wins in women’s basketball. “She’s been a pleasure to coach for the last four years. She represents the college in a great way and by far she is the best player I’ve coached in my 19 years here. You can’t replace someone like her.”

Harrison also said he and the school have one final tribute they’d like to pay to the greatest women’s basketball player in Lehman history.

“We’ve decided we’re going to retire her number,” Harrison said. “She will be the last person to wear No. 21. At some point in time we’re going to put it up in the rafters when we bring her back for a ceremony. So when we order our new uniforms that number will not be ordered again.”