It’s not every day that a school fits a student as well as UCSD fit senior women’s basketball player Nicholle Bromley.
“”I came here because of academics and because I’d get to play a lot right away,”” Bromley said.
And play right away she did. In her freshman year, the Rancho Bernardo High School star won the honors of team Rookie of the Year, while averaging 8.4 points per game and 5.3 rebounds.
But athletics aren’t the only thing on Bromley’s mind. A biology major, Bromley will graduate in June.
“”I wanted to be pre-med and play basketball, and UCSD was a natural fit,”” Bromley said.
During her time at UCSD, she not only won Rookie of the Year during her freshman season, but earned the team’s Outstanding Student Award during her sophomore campaign, along with the Heart and Hustle award her junior year.
As the lone senior and co-captain on an otherwise young team this season, Bromley helped the team right the ship after a dismal 0-9 start to the season, and finish with a 10-17 overall record (10-12 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association).
“”[Next year’s team] could be very successful,”” Bromley said. “”They’re starting to become more experienced. Ali [Ginn], Thea [Bachmann] and Robyn [Phillips] will all be seniors.””
The UCSD guard said her most memorable moment playing basketball for the Tritons was during the 2001-02 season when, in their first game, the Tritons took out cross-town Division I SDSU.
“”It was one of the best games I’ve ever played in,”” Bromley said. “”Everybody was on all game. I felt like I was about 6’2″”.””
After overcoming the challenge of a tough start on the court this season, Bromley’s next challenge is the MCATs, which she’ll take in two weeks.
“”I’ve been studying for the MCATs for the first part of this quarter,”” Bromley said. “”I’m only taking one class so I can have time to study for the test.””
Despite only taking one class this quarter, Bromley will graduate on time after four years at UCSD.
“”I don’t know how I did it,”” said Bromley about graduating in four years. “”I’ve taken some summer school classes. Maybe I was so concerned about [graduating in four years] that I just took enough.””
Along with taking enough classes, the three-year starter managed to score 10.1 points per game and became only the fifth player in school history to score more then 1,000 points in her career. Her 1,087 total points ranks her third in UCSD history. She also finished her career ranked fifth in steals, sixth in assists, sixth in free-throw percentage and 15th in rebounds on the Triton all-time list.
“”I’m taking a year off after this year,”” she said. “”I’ll most likely stay in San Diego and work on applying to medical school.””
