EVANSVILLE - After the buzzer sounded on the collegiate career of one of the Missouri Valley Conference's most prolific scorers, University of Evansville women's basketball alum Sara Dickey soon took her talents to the professional ranks. Dickey graduated as the Aces' career leader in points, finishing with 2,099 points in 2017.

Dickey's first professional season was spent in Portugal, where the Montezuma, Indiana native played for Boa Viagem. Picking-up where she left off in the white and purple, Dickey quickly commanded an important role for her professional team, averaging 14.6 points and 5.4 rebounds in her first season after graduation. Dickey was unsure about what her time in Portugal would hold, but quickly found to enjoy her time there.

"First, I didn't really know what to expect. But I was on a really beautiful island called Terceira," said Dickey. "We were just a short walk from the ocean. And I had some really great teammates to experience everything with, all over Portugal. We ended up having a decent season, then lost in the first round of the playoffs."

This past season, Dickey moved to SBS Ostrava of the Czech Rebublic's ZBL, leading the team in scoring, averaging 18.8 points per contest, the second-highest scoring average in the league. Dickey's scoring is only outdone by one player in the ZBL and that's Brionna Jones, who plays for USK Praha during the winter and the WNBA's Connecticut Sun during the summer. 

"I feel like basketball wise, I was in a pretty good rhythm all season," remarked Dickey. "Our team was in a couple different leagues, which gave us the chance to travel to quite a few different countries for games. So, it was cool to be able to have those experiences."

On February 28, Dickey recorded one of her best performances of the season, scoring a game-high 33 points in a narrow 78-74 loss to Chomutov. Little did anyone know, this would be the last game before the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact the entire globe. The next scheduled game for SBS Ostrava was a March 11 contest against Loko Trutnov.

"It all happened so quickly. At first, the Czech league decided to continue with games without fans," mentioned Dickey. "So, we had one of those games."

In the matchup with Loko Trutnov, Dickey played 38 minutes, scoring 14 points and adding five assists as her SBS Ostrava side captured a 76-64 victory. After the win, the. ZBL took further measures to protect the safety of its athletes.

"The next day (after the Loko Trutnov game) it was decided that the season was just going to be finished," said Dickey.

But Dickey's season wasn't supposed to end there. The Aces alum had plans to join an Australian club for their summer season and after the ZBL season was canceled, Dickey reported to her club team in Australia.

"I was planning on playing in Australia during the summer, so my teams coordinated getting me straight there because we were still very hopeful that the season there would continue," said DIcky. "Two days aftere the Czech season was canceled, all of us foreign players were on our way out."

"It was surprisingly very smooth getting to Australia," noted Dickey.

It did not take long for the smooth process to get more complicated. 

"After arriving, the season was postponed the next day. Then the day after that, the league decided to continue the season without foreign players," said Dickey. "Therefore, the team had to send me back home. It was a little more difficult getting back home because so many flights were getting canceled. So, the plans changed a few times, but eventually I had a smooth flight back to the US."

As was true in the rough circumstances in the Czech Republic, Dickey still looks at the positives of the trip.

"One of my teammates gave me surfing lessons, so I guess the trip was worth it."

Through her multiple international stops and the havoc that unfolded in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dickey reflects on what she learned at the University of Evansville.

"At Evansville, I was able to learn a lot of details and strategies about the game, that I have been able to take with me," says Dickey. "I also always had people pushing me to improve and holding me accountable. I'm thankful for UE for pushing me forward."
 

• INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville athletics, visit GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthletics.

                                   

• DONATE: For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the DONATE tab on the top of GoPurpleAces.com.

 

• TICKETS: To purchase tickets for University of Evansville athletics events, log on to GoPurpleAces.com and click on the TICKETS tab on top of the page.