By BRANDON LaCHANCE

Staff writer

MENDOTA – In Mendota the name Amellia Bromenschenkel is well known in the basketball, sports world.

The 2020 Mendota High School graduate left a semester early and dove into NCAA Division I basketball with Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Although she has a COVID-19 year remaining for a fifth year of eligibility in the 2024-25 season, the Mastodon senior is playing some of her best ball to date and is making a name for herself across the nation, not just Mendota or Illinois.

“I have a COVID-19 year left, so I’ll be coming back for a fifth year, but with this being my official senior year, I just wanted to put my name out there and make sure I’m giving it my all during my last two seasons,” said Bromenschenkel, who was Horizon League Third Team for the 2022-23 season. “Last year, I made a jump from the previous year, and I just wanted to keep that flowing. I wanted to improve in everything, so I worked pretty hard in the offseason to make sure I get something above third team this year. And hopefully our team will go further in the postseason and have more success than we did last year.

“College basketball is a lot quicker than high school, so you have to be ready for your shot at all times. When you’re younger, you don’t have the confidence that it takes to fire your shot at any point in a game. What’s really changed for me is improving my confidence and taking it to the next level by being ready whenever my team needs me.

“We get the opportunity to play schools in the power five conferences. It’s really cool to be here and to play against great competition.”

Purdue University Fort Wayne is 7-4 with a .636 winning percentage overall and is 2-0 in the Horizon League.

Bromenschenkel has started all 11 of the Mastodons’ games and is averaging team highs of 31.8 minutes, 13.7 points, and 6.7 rebounds. She also leading the squad with nine blocks. She is shooting 49.5 percent from the field, 46.2 from the 3-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line and has 25 assists, 11 steals, and 22 turnovers this season.

The Mastodons saw tough competition from the beginning as they played the University of Michigan on Nov. 6 (80-61 loss).

Bromenschekel scored 12 points and had six rebounds against the Wolverines and has continued to put up solid numbers as she had 16 points and nine rebounds in a 124-14 win against Great Lakes Christian on Nov. 11, and six points and six rebounds in a 70-64 overtime win over Southern Illinois University on Nov. 15.

PUFW entered the Gulf Coast Showcase in November where they faced Caitlin Clark, who is viewed as the WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick in 2024, and No. 5-ranked team in the country, University of Iowa, on Nov. 24. Bromenschenkel recorded 16 points and six rebounds in the 98-59 loss to the Hawkeyes.

The Mastodons bounced back with two wins in the showcase as they defeated Delaware 88-74 on Nov. 25 (Bromenschenkel had 27 points and four rebounds) and Western Kentucky 90-77 on Nov. 26 (13 points and six rebounds).

For her efforts, Bromenschenkel was named the Horizon League Player of the Week on Nov. 27.

“Playing big schools like Michigan and Iowa, they always have solid players no matter if it’s an off year for them or not,” Bromenschenkel said. “We try to come into those games and try to prove ourselves and get our name out there being we’re a smaller school. We haven’t been great in our conference the last couple years and we want to improve.

“It was a great opportunity to play Iowa. Pretty much everyone in college basketball wants a chance to play Iowa and take on Caitlin Clark. It was super cool to be able to be there with an extremely packed stadium and experience everything that had to offer. Clark is extremely talented and one of the best players in the country. It was cool to see how we matched up against her. It was cool to play against her and get a few photos with her.

“Iowa wasn’t our best game. We really bounced back with the wins over Delaware and Western Kentucky. We had a long talk with the coaches and the players after the Iowa loss and wanted to prove who we are. We weren’t expecting to do great in the tournament because we were the smaller name, but I think we really proved ourselves to our opponents, the people who ran the tournament, and the Horizon League.

“It was a great opportunity for us to show how far we’ve come.”

PUFW won its first two Horizon League games, 84-66 over Oakland on Nov. 13 and 71-60 against Wright State on Dec. 3, before a non-conference 57-46 win over Bellarmine on Dec. 6 and non-conferences loses to St. Thomas (64-59) on Dec. 9 and to Western Michigan (78-76) on Dec. 17.

Only 11 games in, Bromenschenkel is excited for the rest of the season as she stays focused on improving her play and the Mastodons recognition.

“Since Maria Marchesano (third-year head coach) came in, it’s been a rebuild. I think now that we’re in the third year of the rebuild, it’s finally clicking,” Bromenschenkel said. “Our offense is really solid, and everyone is used to playing together. We’ve brought on some new key pieces with transfers and freshman, and I feel they’ve really stepped into their roles well.

“We have a lot of girls that are older who are ready to take it to the next level. My age group, which is three of us starters, have been playing together for the last three years. We have a transfer who has been here for two years. And the fifth starter has also been here as long as I have. We’ve been together for a while and know how to play with each other.”