Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – With nine seconds left in the first half against Trinity Western on Jan. 6, Noelle Kilbreath's free throw attempt circled the rim and bounced out, landing in the hands of Mackenzie Farmer.
Her put-back attempt kissed off the glass and dropped through the mesh.
At the time, it was a routine layup that drew the Griffins women's basketball team within 12 points of the Spartans.
The significance of the moment in the annals of program history, though … with that basket, Farmer became the first Griffins women's basketball player to reach 1,000 career Canada West points.
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— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) January 19, 2023
Mackenzie Farmer reflects on becoming the first @MacEwanU WBB player to reach 1,000 career @USPORTS_Bball points on this hoop vs. @TWUSpartans.
Farmer and the Griffins host @pandasbball FRI & SAT (6 PM, @CanadaWest TV).#GriffNation
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"It's incredibly impressive," said Griffins head coach Katherine Adams. "Obviously, you can watch her play now and see the athlete and player she's become over her time here, but you also know the impact she's had over a long period of time. You don't get to 1,000 points if you aren't impactful immediately.
"Even with that, it's so impressive to look at how far she's come as an athlete, player and leader on our team in the growth she's made over her time here. It's incredible."
Farmer was more about team goals at the time as the Griffins tried to steal a win against the Spartans, coming close but falling short.
"As cool as it is, I tried not to let it affect my game, just knowing my team needed me to be there," said Farmer. "Although it wasn't our best game on Friday, we played a lot better on Saturday. It was very unfortunate how it ended because I feel that would have been a really good one to have."
Farmer and the Griffins, who have been on a bye since that milestone-setting weekend, will host the cross-town rival University of Alberta Pandas on Friday and Saturday (both 6 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
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Friday's contest is the Griffins' annual White Out celebration. The first 100 fans will receive free t-shirts.
Saturday's game is MacEwan's annual Shoot for the Cure game. To donate, check out the Griffins' fund-raising page here.
Farmer now has 1,027 points, which is tops in MacEwan's Canada West history and fifth across all eras and leagues since the Griffins began playing basketball in 1975.
Only Megan Wood (1,504 from 2012-16), Michelle Mackinnon (1,267 from 1996-00), Bayan Kurd (1,075 from 2009-14) and Kendall Lydon (1,043 from 2013-17) are above her on that list.
Mackenzie Farmer looks for an opening against Trinity Western earlier this month. Against the Spartans, she reached 1,000 career Canada West points (Eduardo Perez photo).
In the Griffins' final game of the first semester on Dec. 3, Farmer broke Kayla Ivicak's record for the most career points in MacEwan's Canada West era. In leading the Griffins to a 69-61 win over Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., Farmer hit a layup with 2:11 left that passed Ivicak's 995 career point mark.
She might have reached 1,000 that night, if not for the fact she went off with an injury late in the contest that drew blood on an eyebrow.
"Friday, I got elbowed in the exact same spot and I had a red eye that was going to turn into a black eye," explained Farmer. "Me and Toni (Gordon) both went for a rebound and Toni's elbow hit my eye and I split it open and had a black eye immediately."
The injury has been par for the course for Farmer, who has drawn blood in all but one weekend so far in 2022-23, with other injuries to her nose and chin. Tough as nails, though, the Sherwood Park product got fixed up against TRU and returned to the contest with 11 seconds left but didn't hit the scoresheet again.
"After that game, (Katherine) told me I broke the record," said Farmer. "She was trying really hard to get me to 1,000. I was ecstatic. I was sad I couldn't get 1,000 that weekend, but knew it was going to happen the next game."
Mackenzie Farmer (#7) and Kayla Ivicak (#12) with teammates Shannon Majeau (#14), Darian Mahmi (#0) and Kristen Monfort-Palomino take a break on the bench during a 2018-19 game. Farmer and Ivicak are the top two on the program's career CW points leaderboard (Chris Piggott photo).
Passing Ivicak was a big moment for her, though. The two were teammates for two seasons, Ivicak in her last two and Farmer in her first two.
"I just wish in times like this I could play with her one more year," said Farmer. "Just looking at the player she was, she was a rebounding unit, she was the most consistent player you could count on on the court. I feel like I'm with her now, that she and I would feed very well off each other. I'm sad she got me when I was still forming to be the athlete I am today.
"It was really exciting (to break her career points record) because she's such a good player and I hoped I could be up there with her and maybe even surpass her."
Including this weekend, Farmer has eight games remaining in the 2022-23 regular season, so there's a reasonable chance she will be third in all-time Griffins' scoring by the time she's done.
"When you watch her play, you realize there are so many ways she impacts the game," said Adams. "Obviously we're talking about scoring being a big one, which she does very well. But there are so many other ways she has an impact on the game – her voice, her leadership, what she does at the defensive end. She's really increased her rebounding numbers. Every category she's making an impact – scoring, ball distribution, rebounding."
