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Women's basketball: Vedvei a steal for Lady Hardrockers
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FarkRAPID CITY — South Dakota School of Mines senior Melanie Vedvei has been committing grand larceny on the basketball court and getting away with it for the past four years.
It finally caught up with her.
The 5-foot-7 guard recorded nine steals over the weekend during Dakota Athletic Conference action against Mayville State and Dakota State, which pushed her total over the top for the NAIA national career steals record. Vedvei has 416 steals. The old record, held by Joy Wilkinsen of Malone, Ohio, was 411 from 1999 to 2003.
“It’s something I have never even thought about. I didn’t even know that I was close to (the record) until after our last home weekend when someone mentioned it,” Vedvei said.
“It’s a huge honor, but it is one of those things that is an honor for our whole team.”
The Lake Preston native holds the NAIA record, along with every Mines school steals category record, including career steals, steals in a season (124 in 2006-07) and steals in a game (11 vs. Holy Names during the 2004-05 season).
“She’s a phenomenal athlete,” Lady Hardrocker head coach Barb Felderman said. “I think she is one of the best athletes in the NAIA. In fact, a guy this past weekend told me he thought Mel could excel very well at the (NCAA) D-II and D-I levels.”
Vedvei was very humble about the honor and she said she is a product of the Hardrockers’ style of play. And the system the team executes each game benefits her and has given her opportunities to nab balls. So much so that Vedvei currently is first in the NAIA for steals per game (4.36). In the DAC she has tallied 83 so far, which puts her 25 ahead of second place Giuli Varriano of Jamestown College.
“It’s the way that the whole team plays defense — pressure defense. That creates a lot of steals and that’s one of the things we are known for — a lot of steals,” Vedvei said. “We always have been, ever since I have been here. We have pretty much always been in the top of the conference (as steals leader).”
That statement holds true this season as the Lady ‘Rockers top the Dakota Athletic Conference list with 269 steals. That number is 52 more than second-place Jamestown College, N.D., who has 217. The team is also nationally ranked in NAIA Div. II, coming in at sixth place for steals per game with 14.26.
If earning the national record weren’t enough, Vedvei also moved into second place all time on the Lady Hardrocker scoring list. She currently has a total of 1,949 points. She moved ahead of Kori Hoff, who had 1,934 from 1994-98 and is second only to Jami Barroclough who had 2,422 points from 1996 to 2000.
South Dakota School of Mines senior Melanie Vedvei handles the ball during a recent home basketball game at the King Center in Rapid City. The Lake Preston native broke the NAIA National career steals record this past weekend. (Brad Blume/South Dakota School of Mines)
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