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She may be undersized, but Alice Meunier is definitely not underappreciated. Certainly not to her teammates on the Putnam Science Academy Prep Red team.
“To our team, she’s the girl who works the hardest,” Zoé Bayer said. “She motivates everyone. She can do things that people on our team can’t, like taking rebounds. I love having her as a teammate.”
“She doesn’t quit,” said coach Sabrina Browne. “She’s aggressive. She brings high energy and intensity to the game all the time. She’s a magnet to the ball.”
At 5-foot-5, Meunier is often one of the smallest players on the court. But, as her teammates attested to, she will never be outworked. Her unofficial stats for every game seem to be 10 points, five or six rebounds, five or six assists, and four or five steals. And those stats don’t account for the hustle plays getting to loose balls or simply outworking bigger players for rebounds.
“I really like fighting for the ball,” said Meunier, a 17-year-old from Arlon, Belgium. “I know I’m not big but I try really hard and I’m going to fight for the ball. I think it’s one of the most important things. Even if you’re not the best player, if you fight and work hard, you can still be good.”
Meunier said that back in Belgium, where she’s been playing since she was 3 years old, she was somehow a post player even though everyone on her team was bigger than her. She said she never shot the ball, never attempted a 3-pointer in a game before coming to PSA. Never. So when she was told she was going to be a guard and have to shoot the ball, she wasn’t so confident she could do that.
It turns out though that she can, through her hard work. Meunier has become a bit of a gym rat, utilizing any opportunity that the gym is available to get in there and get shots up. That is one of her favorite things about being at PSA, along with daily practices, the minute-or-so-walk from the dorm to the gym, and the relationships she has built with her teammates, all of which is a 180 from what she experienced back home.
“Since I’ve been here, I am the most happy person,” she said. “In two years (when she graduates), that will be finished if I don’t receive a scholarship offer. My mom, I know she is doing everything to help me realize my dream to go to college and play basketball. So I need to fight for my dream. I know the level here is really hard to do that, so I need to work harder for it.
“I want my mom and my grandfather to be proud of me. My mom tells me she is happy for me. She tells me that I’m amazing and she’s proud of me. That’s what I want to hear so I have to really keep working.”
Last Monday, Meunier made everyone proud with her typical workmanlike performance; she led her team to a 91-27 win over Wheeler School, finishing with 17 points, 10 steals, six rebounds, and four assists. Looks have certainly been deceiving.
“I think at first, she’s not the girl (the other team) will say is the best on the team,” Bayer said, “but at the end they change their mind because she is doing really good things.”
Bayer added 21 points, five assists, and four steals for the Mustangs, who also got 15 points from Zuza Komor and 14 points from Alba Farell Torres.
Feb. 5, PSA’s Prep Black team won its second straight game, knocking off Hoosac, 68-60. Ines Goryanova scored 17 of her team-high 19 points in the second half to lead the way.
Molly Moffitt and Janeya Grant both finished with 14 points for the Mustangs (7-5). Astou Ndiaye added nine points in the win. PSA has a busy stretch coming up with five games scheduled in the next 10 days before the team heads to North Carolina to play in the Independent School National Championship Tournament.
“I honestly think we’re hungry for more games,” Moffitt said. “A lot of things have gotten canceled and rescheduled so these next few games are going to be really fun for us. We want to compete and play against the best. I think mentally we are in a good spot. These last two wins for us were huge and a great way to go into these next five games. When we are locked in and physical we look really, really good.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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