Marla Gearhart
5-9 Senior
Guard
Olive Hill, KY (West Carter High School)
As a Junior:  Marla was having an outstanding year when she went down with a season-ending knee injury in the eighth game of the year against Louisville.  She was leading the team in scoring at that point of the year, averaging 14.2 points per game.  She was also averaging 3.3 assists per game, hitting 80 percent from the free throw line and 44.7 percent from the field.

As a Sophomore: Marla teamed up with All American Chrissy Roberts in 1997-98 to make up one of the league's best back-court combinations.  Deadly from three point range and quick enough to take the ball through the lane, Marla had opponents on their heels wondering what she would do.  Marla was third on the team, as well as in the conference, in 3 point shooting percentage, knocking down 40.5 percent of her trey attempts.  She was third on the team in free throw percentage (71.4) and scoring (10.6 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (3.3 rpg).  She was second on the team in assists, dishing out 92 in 1997-98.  Marla had the best assist to turnover ratio on the team that season, handing out 1.4 assists for every one giveaway.  She was second on the team in steals, collecting 45 during the 1997-98 season.

As a Freshman: Marla played in 20 of the Colonels’ contests during her freshman campaign while starting in one game.  Despite averaging only 18.5 minutes per game, Marla's scoring average was fourth best on the team (6.3 pg), and her free throw percentage of 81.1 percent was second on the team.

At West Carter: Marla was a first team All Kentucky honoree in 1996 after leading her team to the 16th Region Championship and a berth in the state tournament.  She averaged 19.2 points, 4.7 assists and 3.8 steals per game her final campaign.  She was selected as the Lexington Herald-Leader Area Player of the Year in the 16th Region.  She also holds the West Carter all time scoring record with 2,264 career points.

Career Highlights:
Most Points - 24 vs. Murray State (12-5-1998)
Most Field Goals - 12 vs. Murray State (12-5-1998)
Most Free Throws - 10 (of 10) at Coastal Carolina (12-12-1998)
Most Rebounds - 8 vs. Middle Tennessee (1-26-1998)
Most Assists - 10 vs. Tennessee-Martin (2-4-1998)
Most Steals - 5 vs. Georgia Southern (11-22-1997), at Coastal Carolina (12-12-1998)
Most Threes - 4 vs. Marshall (11-15-1997) 

                                                    CAREER BASKETBALL STATISTICS
                                                           MARLA GEARHART

                   -FG (INCL 3PT)- ---3 PT FG--- --FREE THROWS- -----REBOUNDS----
      YEAR   GP-GS   MD- ATT   PCT  MD- ATT PCT   MD- ATT   PCT OFF DEF  TOT  AVG  A   TO BLK STL   PF-D   MIN-AVG   PTS   AVG
      ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      1997   20- 1   47- 108  43.5   3- 19  15.8  30-  37  81.1  13  36   49  2.5  27  25   2  15   24- 0  371-18.5  127   6.3
      1998   28-26  103- 259  39.8  30- 74  40.5  60-  84  71.4  23  68   91  3.3  92  68   2  45   78- 2  846-30.2  296  10.6
      1999    8- 8   42-  94  44.7   6- 20  30.0  24-  30  80.0  12  15   27  3.4  26  16   0  12   24- 0  213-26.6  114  14.2
      2000   28-28  191- 449  42.5  63-163  38.7 103- 127  81.1  28  56   84  3.0 105  57   0  48   51- 0  959-34.2  548  19.6
      ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      TOTAL  84-63  383- 910  42.1 102-276  37.0 217- 278  78.1  76 175  251  3.0 250 166   4 120  177- 2 2389-28.4 1085  12.9
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