Laurie Rogers knows a little bit about toughness.

Except you’d never know it just by talking to her. That’s not a slight against Rogers, mind you. But the 6-foot-1 Northern State senior has more juggling pins in the air than one would think after a casual interaction.

There’s basketball, of course, and that’s a big one. But there’s also classes and homework and work and dental school applications – she was accepted, by the way – and bus trips and any number of everyday stressors that come along.

“She has an intensity level that she brings to everything, but she’s able to bring it in a way you don’t see it,” said Northern State women’s basketball coach Paula Krueger. 

Part of that is perhaps due to the matter of fact manner in which Rogers approaches every scenario. Take, for instance, the transition from Class B All-State selection at Warner to NCAA Division II-level basketball at Northern.

Rogers herself admits that coming to Northern was an easy decision.

“I grew up coming to both volleyball and basketball games here,” Rogers said. “Northern still has that small class and close-knit community feel. There’s great support here, just like Warner had. It was an easy choice.”

Still, it wasn’t always seamless. College basketball is, after all, inherently more intense than high school ball, and Rogers felt the need to expand her game to match.

So she attacked it head-on. Extra group workouts? Rogers was there. Individual workouts? Rogers did them. With a coach present or without? Didn’t matter to her.

“I would go out of my way to make sure I was doing individual workouts,” Rogers said.

The coaching staff noticed, and saw a bright future ahead for the up-and-coming forward.

“Becoming that kind of post player, she put in so much work outside of team workouts,” Krueger said.

The on-court results have been somewhat mixed. Krueger noted that some games have gone really well, and others have been frustrating. Through it all, however, Rogers has never uttered a negative word.

“She has yet to complain to me about not getting enough touches,” Krueger said. 

But it’s still better when Rogers does factor into the game plan.

“When Laurie touches the ball and we have the opportunity to go inside out, we’re better,” Krueger said.

Rogers is averaging 11.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in a starting role this season, totals that have propelled the Wolves to a 10-8 overall record. While that sort of production will be hard to replace next season, Krueger said her leadership and her willingness to go above and beyond for her teammates will be even harder to replace.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had a time where she hasn’t had time to help someone else,” Krueger said.

As much as Rogers has given to basketball, however, basketball has given just as much back, providing Rogers with a safe haven in the wake of the loss of both of her parents in a 3-year span.

“Basketball has definitely been an outlet for me,” Rogers said. “If anybody asks, I still say they’re my reason for playing.”

As the remainder of Rogers’ season – and career – heats up, she has one goal left to accomplish: winning the conference tournament.

“We definitely have the talent,” she said. “If we can pull it all together, we can definitely pull it off.”

Regardless, Rogers is off to dental school at Creighton next year, grateful for having had the experience.

“It’ll be a tough transition out of playing basketball,” she said. “I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it, just waiting until it happens.”