Basketball: Prior to her freshman season, Ellie Braaten established herself as a starter

WESTHOPE, N.D. — For most athletes making the jump from high school to college, playing time comes at a premium in the beginning. But for Westhope alum Ellie Braaten, she worked her way into the starting lineup before her freshman season at Valley City State began this past year.

The former Miss Basketball finalist says that her mindset going into the season was to take advantage of any and every opportunity on the court. After being put in a starting role at practice, Braaten’s focus went from trying to trying to crack the rotation to keeping her spot as a starter.

“I went in like not expecting to get a lot of time,” she says. “Going from high school to college, you don’t see a lot of time in a lot of cases. So, starting was also something that wasn’t on my radar. My goal was just to see the floor and do what I could. And then throughout practices, coach started putting me in the position of being the starting point guard, and I just kept working my butt off to keep that going. It was definitely a change, but it was an exciting change.”

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