Mikhaila Wright scores career milestone

CREDIT: FANSHAWE ATHLETICS
Mikhaila Wright became the first-ever Fanshawe Falcons' women's basketball player to earn 1,000 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) league points during the Jan. 25 Falcons Fest game.

Fifth-year shooting guard for the Fanshawe Falcons’ women’s basketball team Mikhaila Wright (travel and tourism studies) celebrated a career milestone on her birthday weekend in front of her friends and family.

A Fanshawe Athletics press release announced that during the quadruple header Falcons Fest on Jan. 25, Wright became the first-ever Falcons’ women’s basketball player to score 1,000 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) league points. She reached the record in third period during the Falcons’ 101-98 overtime victory with the Humber Hawks.

Shortly after, Wright was named an OCAA Star of the Week for the week ending Jan. 26 and became the January SupplementSource.ca Fanshawe Student-Athlete of the Month. A Fanshawe Athletics press release from Feb. 7 said Wright led the Falcons, currently the top fourth team in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), to a 4-0 record that month. She averaged 15.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 3.8 assists per game during the four wins in January and is the all-time scoring leader in Fanshawe’s women’s basketball.

Get the TD Insurance app.

“I’m actually still kind of shocked since during that game, I had no idea that I was going to reach that goal,” Wright said. “I’m proud of myself. I’ve been here for a long time so it’s nice to accomplish something like that.”

In a follow-up email with Interrobang, she added she’s glad to be back on the court for the 2019/2020 season after ending her previous season early with a tibia stress fracture.

Bill Carriere, the head coach of the Falcons’ women’s basketball team, expressed joy for Wright’s accomplishment.

“I feel happy for her. She’s certainly well-deserving of the milestone. She works hard,” Carriere said. “We’ve had her for five years and we’re grateful for having to coach her.”

He added Wright is a positive role model to her younger teammates and is happy to listen to and answer any questions. He also said she averages around two or three steals per game as one of the team’s best rebounders and brings a unique skill set to the court.

“She doesn’t shoot like most kids would. She shoots with two hands, but she does it quite well,” he said. “She’s a great shooter. She gets to the rim really well and she’s so fast — which makes it a tough guard for other teams.”

After graduating from recreation and leisure services, Wright realized she wanted to take a different career path. Rather than take time away from school, she returned took general arts and science to figure out what she wanted to do.

“A normal person would probably take a couple of years off to figure it out, but the [basketball] program here had such a sense of community for me that it felt like home, so I just wanted to find something that would somewhat interest me.”

She’s currently in the tourism and travel studies program. Last December, Wright and her brother went to Costa Rica on vacation and the experience and her studies inspired her to travel more and pursue a career in that field and see more of what the world has to offer. She wasn’t sure what her post-grad plans were, but said she’s looking to spend time with her family, work, and travel.

Fanshawe College will host the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Women’s Basketball National Championships in 2021. While Wright said she is sad she won’t be there, she’s happy Fanshawe women’s basketball will be recognized nationally.

“We really deserve it. My coaches worked really hard all these years and to finally benefit from their hard work, it’s good and it’s good for our varsity programs in general,” she said.

The 2020 OCAA Women’s Basketball Championship tournament is scheduled on the OCAA Championships website for March 6 to 8 and hosted by St. Clair College.

This article was written before the Falcons hosted the Mohawk Mountaineers on Feb. 20. Visit fanshawefalcons.ca for the results.