Former ACU all-America center signs with Stealth
Bucher-Washington joins Houston franchise in NWBL
HOUSTON -- After two years in Finland, former ACU women's
basketball star Jackie Bucher-Washington has finally made it back to the
United States.
And she hopes this time it's for good.
Washington, who played the last two years for Peli-Karhut in the Finnish
Basketball Association, is the newest member of the Houston Stealth of the
Women's National Basketball League. The league was started in 1997 as a
league for players in the National Women's Basketball Association and the
now-defunct American Basketball League to play in during the off-season
instead of going to Europe.
Washington joins a Houston team that stars Sheryl Swoopes, the former
Texas Tech all-America who plays for the Houston Comets of the WNBA. Other
WNBA players in the league are former Tennessee all-America standout Tamika
Catchings (Chicago Blaze) and a trio of former Connecticut all-America standouts
in guard Shea Ralph and centers Kara Wolters and Rebecca Lobo, all of the
Springfield (Mass.) Spirit.
Washington tried out for the Stealth on Feb. 20 and was signed a few
days later. She played her first game Thursday night in the Stealth's 99-95
win over the Birmingham Power in Alabama. The Stealth will play at Atlanta
on both Friday and Sunday nights before returning home to Houston for a
five-game homestand before finishing the regular season on March 23 and
24 against the Spirit in Springfield, Mass.
The Stealth are 3-7 with 10 games to play in the season, which will conclude
with a championship tournament March 28-30 at the Mohegan Sun Resort and
Casino in Uncassville, Conn.
Washington had another spectacular season in Finland, leading the league
in scoring (27.9 ppg) and field goal percentage (65.6 percent), while finishing
in the top seven in the league in four other categories. She scored a career-high
44 points in a 108-59 win over HoNsU on Feb. 9, topping her previous career
high of 42, which she scored six nights earlier in a 134-49 win over Componenta.
She had seven games of at least 30 points and she posted nine double-doubles
in just 18 games.
Following the season, she and her husband, George, returned to the United
States to find that her agent, Jeanne McNulty-King, had set up a tryout
with the Stealth. Head coach Johnny Chancellor -- an assistant for the
Comets, whose head coach is his father, Van Chancellor -- liked what he
saw and Washington was signed to a contract.
Right now, though, Washington isn't sure where she'll be playing when
she gets on the court.
"I know they need someone at the 'four' (power forward) position,"
she said. "Sheryl Swoopes is on the team, and she'll play the 'three'
(small forward) position, but she plays mostly just the home games. Maybe
on the road I'll get to play outside a little bit more."
During her two seasons in Finland, one of Washington's goals was to improve
both her outside shooting and her ballhandling skills. At 6-2, she could
be a matchup problem on the outside. She did improve her outside shooting
this season, hitting 10 of 33 3-point field goal attempts this season in
Finland, and her defense improved (3.11 steals per game to finish fourth
in the league, and 1.00 blocks per game to finish fourth in the league),
as did her ballhandling skills (1.67 assists per game to finish 17th in
the league).
If Washington can prove herself in this league, which boasts more than
20 WNBA players in the six-team circuit, it might give her a boost into
the WNBA.
"Playing professionally in the United States has always been my
dream," she said. "Hopefully this will give me more exposure
to WNBA scouts and general managers and coaches. I just want to get my
name out there and give myself a chance to get into the WNBA."
