In 1997, you scored 38 points against Hartford, the second-most points in a single game in program history. What was it like to score that many points in a game? 

It was my junior year, and we were in Hartford, and I knew I was about 36 points away from my 1,000th point. I knew it was coming up, and my grandmother was dying at the time, and I was so excited that she would be there to see me score my 1,000th point at home the next game. But things happen, and I went out there and played the game of my life. I don’t know what happened; I think I shot a ridiculous number of free throws, 16 or 18? I just kept going to the rim, going at them and getting to the free throw line. It was a close game, going down the stretch, and I remember making a lay-up. We called a timeout after and we go to the huddle, and I hear in the background ‘congratulations to Kate Gordon for scoring her 1,000th point!’ I didn’t even know it happened until after the game when coach told me. 

I literally felt like I was throwing the ball in the ocean that day. My teammates saw me doing well, so they kept feeding me the ball, getting it into the right spots, and I just kept getting to the free throw line. I was never a great free throw shooter early in my career, it was something I had to work on because I think they called me the Shaq of the NAC my freshman year. I wore #32 my first year, I was getting fouled all the time and I shot some horrific percentage from the free throw line. So it was something I had to work on my entire career, and I ended up having a good percentage my senior year, but I was always up there in attempts. 

I felt like I could just score at will that game, and no matter what they threw at us, we found a way to get in my hands and I had a record-breaking game for myself. It was the most I had scored in a game in my entire life, two more than what I scored in high school. It was just a really cool experience for everyone. 

What does it mean to you to still rank so highly in the Hofstra record books for points, rebounds, free throws and steals? 

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been coming back to Hofstra more. I got to be friendly with Shante Evans, who broke most of records, and I was lucky enough to be there when she broke my rebounding record. It was nice to see someone of her caliber be the one to do it, and she is still playing and competing at a high level. When it comes to what I did, I just loved the game of basketball. It’s still a very big part of my life, so for me I can only speak to the fact that I love the game, it has done so much for me and I loved playing when I was at Hofstra. 

It was a long, daunting season, with injuries and all that, but I loved being out there competing, travelling, and just playing the game. The friendships that were created while playing made us an instant family, and it’s a huge part of my every day for the rest of my life.

In 2011, you were inducted into the Hofstra Athletic Hall of Fame. What did it mean for you to receive that honor? 

I was actually shocked, because I had been out of the game for so long. My first set of twins were just born, so basketball wasn’t in my head at that time because I was “being a mom.” When I got the phone call, I was like ‘oh, really? What an awesome honor.’ Then when I got there, everything flooded back to me; when I walked out on to the floor, the memories and the adrenaline overwhelmed me, in a good way, and I appreciated my time at Hofstra so much in that moment. I was just so honored to be there and to have the opportunity to celebrate with my family the accomplishments they sacrificed for. It is always an honor to be recognized for what I did, while playing the game I love so many years ago.