Athlete of the Week: Lilly Bushey, Northwestern

Bushey is a sophomore basketball player at Northwestern. In a game against West Jefferson on Feb. 5, she scored 17 points, and made it a double-double with 13 rebounds, in addition to producing four assists, three blocks and three steals.

For her efforts, Bushey was named the Dayton Daily News Athlete of the Week for Feb. 2 through Feb. 8, earning the honor through reader voting at DaytonDailyNews.com.

“I am just really excited for this opportunity and to see the amount of support I have from the community,” Bushey said.

Bushey has been a double-double machine for the Warriors. She is the only player in the Central Buckeye Conference to rank in the top-five in both scoring (15.5) and rebounding (12.8) this season. She also ranks second in field goal percentage (51.7).

She also produced a triple-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 11 steals in a game against Catholic Central earlier this season. She was two assists away from an even rarer quadruple-double.

“That was definitely a fun game,” Bushey said. “And being able to do that with a lot of girls who don’t usually get to play but got some more time and scored some baskets, it was really fun to see other people also get accomplishments.”

Bushey was drawn to wanting to be a basketball player due to the team-aspect of the game. Her Northwestern coach, Lynn Cochran, has described her being someone who is the first person to cheer when others around her succeed.

Taking those joyful feelings and applying them during practice and other off the court situations has been one part of being a leader that Bushey continues to learn about the benefits it brings, she said.

“I just really like being there for people to be someone that they can look up to,” she said. “Sometimes it’s easier to hear stuff from a friend rather than an adult, and sometimes you take that easier and you get better from that.”

Both of her parents being basketball players as well helped make taking up the game an easier choice for Bushey. She has enjoyed getting to share that experience with them and likes the time she can spend with him training on the court.

Getting to reap and soak in some of the new memories her journey continues to bring, such as team dinners after wins and other celebrations spending time with her teammates, are bonuses but also show she really lives up to the team-first mindset.

“It’s really fun when everybody can score around the same amount of points and everybody gets the same opportunities,” she said. “It’s just really fun to be able to play as a team.”

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