By Natalie Parsons, Staff Writer

When the basketball was probably the size of her head, little Samantha Brigham picked up the ball and started to play. To the Connecticut native, it was love at first sight for a game that would bring her to the ends of the earth and be her best friend.

Hofstra’s second leading scorer in the 2009-10 season with a 9.7 average in the team’s 20-14 season, the 5-10 senior guard originally wanted to play basketball because her older brother played and she wanted to be like him.

At Simsbury High School in Connecticut, she also played soccer and ran
track. “Soccer was too boring and too much running around,” she said. “Track was a lot of fun but I definitely saw the most potential in playing basketball.”

She could have played collegiately at Providence, Liberty, Lehigh or American, but chose Hofstra University because of the coaching staff, academics and the close vicinity to the Big Apple. Of her college career, she said, “It’s been a great experience and a lot of fun.”

Team practices were six days a week, up to a few hours each day and competitive. But it was not all work and no play. The coaches planned something fun at the end of the practices, including practice half-court shots.

Brigham admitted, despite her love for the game, there were rough patches and that quitting crossed her mind a few times. “Sometimes when I have no free time,” she said, “but I love the game so much and I have never been much of a quitter.”

She was named to the Colonial Athletic Association all-rookie team as a freshman in 2007. “It was a shock,” she said. “My team was very successful that year [26-8, advancing to the NIT’s fourth round] but I never thought people were looking at me as that much of a contribution to the team.”

A business economics major, Brigham’s time in college is rapidly coming to an end, she is hopeful to play the game she loves overseas in the fall. “It was a lot of hard work,” she said, “but it was so worth it. “I had a blast playing in college. It did make the time fly but the memories of the team and the places we go to travel will last a lifetime.”