Rianna Fillipi’s college basketball journey has been filled with many accomplishments through the years, but it recently reached a whole new level in a span of about 24 hours.
The Northern State senior has put together season and career highs throughout her tenure as a college basketball player, but earlier this month had a memorable weekend that included season highs in back-to-back games against St. Cloud State and Bemidji State sandwiched around a special event.
“Obviously we have Madalyn Bragg, who’s kind of been leading us offensively this season, and seeing her go out with foul trouble against St. Cloud on Friday, December 8, I just knew being a fourth-year senior, I had to step up and play that role,” Fillipi said.
Fillipi responded with season-highs in points (22), field goals made (8), field goals attempted (19), and minutes played (43). But the weekend was just getting started. Fillipi followed up that performance with more season-highs against Bemidji State the next day. She recorded season-highs in free throws made (5), free throw attempts (8), assists (9), and steals (9).
“It kind of just rolled into Saturday,” Fillipi said of her second performance. “It was just one of those weekends that you’re feeling good, the ball’s going in the hoop, so you’re just going to continue to do whatever you can.”
In between the basketball games came yet another accomplishment for Fillipi. The senior graduated that Saturday morning with a degree in Business Administration. She noted it was a “chaotic” weekend.
“Actually, playing a game and then going to bed, waking up super early and going to graduation and then playing a game, it just kind of put the cap on the whole weekend,” Fillipi said. “Just so many amazing things happening in one weekend, it felt so great.”
During her career, Fillipi has learned many things that have helped her grow as a player and as a person. She noted that communication is the one area where she has grown the most.
“As a freshman, you’re kind of nervous, you don’t really talk a whole lot, and communication is key, so I think that’s one of the main things that I’ve picked up on is just being the voice on the court,” Fillipi said.
Wolves coach Paula Krueger has also seen plenty of growth from Fillipi from the moment the senior stepped on campus.
“From the first day that she walked in until now, the growth is tremendous,” Krueger said. “She’s turned into an amazing leader, both on and off the court; someone that the team looks up to, and I have no question that she can control a game. I trust her with the keys to the machine, so to speak.”
While she has grown in several ways, one thing has stayed consistent during her basketball career. From an early age, Fillipi worked on perfecting the shot she has become known for: the mid-range jump shot. The Lennox native says she remembers using the shot as early as the seventh grade, and has continued to use it as her go-to way of scoring.
“Honestly that was one of the things that I was recruited for was my mid-range,” Fillipi said. “In high school, I did not shoot a ton of threes. That’s just one of the things that is hard to guard. People don’t expect you to just pull up in the mid-range. It’s a really uncommon shot actually in basketball. People would rather just have you step back and take the three points, but that’s just my comfort zone.”
Krueger took notice of Fillipi’s mid-range jumper while on the recruiting trail, while also noticing other characteristics about the senior guard that gave her a sense that the Wolves needed to bring her to Northern State.
“When you’re looking for people, it’s little innate things, it’s the way they handle themselves, it’s not just how they play, but how they handle the people that they play with, how they are with their coach. There was just so many things about Rianna,” Krueger said. “She had a really great skillset. She shot the mid-range maybe better than anyone I had seen in a while. There was an ‘it’ factor. I can’t put my finger on just one thing.”
Fast forward and Fillipi is now pursuing her master’s degree and says she is not sure where her degree will take her. However, she knows that her time as a Northern State Wolve is limited with one year of eligibility remaining, and says it has meant a lot to play for the school that she has grown to love.
“It has just meant the absolute world,” Fillipi said. “In all of Division II, you just don’t see the commitment from the community that Northern State has. The support from the community is just absolutely unreal, and it has just been a blessing to even be able to put on a Northern State jersey.”
