Gunslinging Wickstrom's Big West breakout season

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When you watch Hannah Wickstrom play, you can tell immediately that she is a natural born scorer.

The way she finds her spots, shoots the ball with confidence and demoralises a defence with her shot-making and finishing is what has seen her become one of the deadliest scorers in women’s division one college basketball.

After making a name for herself as a knockdown shooter as a freshman with UC Riverside, Wickstrom worked tirelessly to add more versatility to her offensive arsenal over the offseason. Now, in her sophomore season with the Highlanders, she’s seventh in the entire nation for scoring and first in the Big West Conference at 22.7 points per game.

The Victorian has blossomed into a consistent and efficient scorer, highlighted by the fact she has scored more than 20 points in 10 of her past 11 outings and in seven of those games she shot at least 50% from the field.

“When I first came over, I was really hit by the physicality difference and the athleticism, so in my offseason, I wanted to just get quicker and stronger,” Wickstrom told basketball.com.au.

“I did a lot of lifting, running and just working on getting faster.

“I wanted to add more to my game, so I worked on driving and getting to the basket more, so I could balance out my game.”

It would be an understatement to say the hard work has paid off, and it all came to the fore when Wickstrom led UC Riverside to a gutsy win over Hawaii in early January.

With the Highlanders leading by one point with under two minutes to play, Wickstrom took over down the stretch, scoring six points in the final 70 seconds of the game to get her squad over the line.

Her late game heroics were the cherry on top of a simply sublime performance, finishing with a career-high 36 points (11-from-19 FG, 3-from-6 3PT FG), six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“That was a real highlight of my college basketball career so far,” she said.

“It was coach Brad [Langston's] first win ever in Hawaii as a head coach too, so we all sprayed him with water afterwards and it was a special moment.

“That Hawaii trip is so hard with the travel, the time difference and it's humid, so there's a lot of factors going on and we really worked hard. That was a big win for us, and it started off our Big West play on a really positive note.

“We gained so much confidence from that game and since then we’ve just wanted to get better because that’s just the start of what we can do in this conference.”

The jump Wickstrom has made from her freshman season to now dominating the Big West as a sophomore is unbelievable.

Last year, she averaged 7.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists and one steal in 18 minutes per game, fast forward to today and she’s almost tripled her output in all of those categories, averaging 22.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.8 steals in 32 minutes.

“With every game I do feel more comfortable on the court,” she said.

“Freshman year is a crazy experience and it’s so different, so this year it's definitely been easier to adjust because I already had an idea of the physicality and the athleticism.

“I'm more prepared and also more confident, just knowing I did a lot of hard work and that it will show on the court.”

Basketball runs in the Wickstrom family, with Hannah’s dad Erik having played five seasons in the NBL, including being a member of the 1997 Melbourne Tigers championship squad, and she credits her dad as being the biggest influence in her basketball journey.

“He taught me the whole game and anytime I have a problem or something's not working for me on the court, I'll always turn to him, and he seems to always know the answer,” she said.

“He’s very experienced and he was my coach a lot growing up in my juniors, so I always would turn to him.

“As I've gotten older and evolved my game, I've had different coaches, which has been good too, just to get different perspectives, but he's always going to be the number one influence on my basketball life.”

Much of Wickstrom’s early years were spent on the basketball courts in Sandringham. Having played her entire junior career at the Sabres, she also credits that community with being vital in her development.

“That place was like my second home, to be honest,” she said.

“Sandringham was my first introduction to basketball, and they were huge for me.

“All of my friends that I met there too, that place is a big part of my journey and when I do go home, I train with them and it's a community that I'll always be a part of.”

As Wickstrom began to stand out at Sandringham, she started making state teams and in her final year was a member of the Victorian squad who won gold at the 2024 National Under-20 Championships.

“Those tournaments were so much fun,” she said.

“We won it a few times, and they were some of the highlights of my basketball journey so far.

“Representing your state, it was such a privilege, and everyone wanted to do it. It was such a big thing growing up; you wanted to represent your state, and if you were lucky enough to do so, there was so much pride wearing that Victoria jersey.”

Now pushing herself to new heights on the other side of the globe in California, Wickstrom has truly announced herself to the college basketball world, and still just a sophomore, she’s going to continue to torch defences for many years to come.

About the Author

Hayley Wildes is passionate about all things Australian women’s basketball and loves to highlight the stories of players from all levels and competitions across the globe. From our own backyard in the WNBL, to the WNBA and the Opals, and everything in between, Hayley has you covered.