Webster basketball record-holder Angie Carr reflects on Hall of Fame career

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Webster University’s women’s basketball all-time leader in points scored, Angie Carr, will take her place in the Webster Athletics Hall of Fame on Feb. 2 in Grant Gymnasium.

Carr made 749 rebounds as a Gorlok, second most in Webster history. One of her toughest rebounds came in a practice during her freshman year.

“I went up for a rebound, and when I was in the air I got pushed from behind,” Carr said. “I went out flat on the floor, and the first thing that hit was my tooth and it broke. One of the other players actually picked it up and said it was my tooth. At that point I freaked out.”

COURTESY OF WEBSTER ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT

The women’s basketball team’s coach at the time, Ryan Barke, drove Carr — and her tooth — immediately to the hospital after the accident.

For the rest of her career, she wore a mouth guard during games and practice.

Both Carr and Barke said, after the accident, the only thing Carr worried about was when she could get back on the court.

“That was just the type of player she was,” Barke said. “She didn’t want to let her teammates down. She didn’t want to let her coaches down. She was a true competitor and, as a coach, one of those rare kids you dream of having.”

Barke remembers Carr not only as a physically tough player, but mentally as well. He said Carr’s performance as a captain was the most invaluable aspect of her game.

“I demanded a lot (more) from the captains of the team than I did the other players,” Barke said. “There would be times when I could holler and scream at Angie and she would look at me like, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong,’ but she knew that I could communicate another message to the team through her.”

Carr said she knew even the yelling was always for the best of the team.

Carr’s teammate from the 2001-02 season, Amanda (Clemmons) Gaston, describes her ex-teammate as a dedicated friend.

“Her friends were first, especially if you were her teammate,” Gaston said. “Anytime anyone needed help or just needed a friend she would drop everything and was right there for you. She still is now.”

INFOGRAPHIC BY TIM DOTY AND DAN DUNCAN

Gaston said Carr was usually the comical one on the team during their time in the locker room after games and practices and on the bus trips to away games. Gaston couldn’t go into much more detail, she just laughed and said, “Girls get crazy.”

Gaston said Carr was always able to break the tension and relax the team during the most stressful times throughout the season.

Being humble and knowing there was always a team behind her was a lesson Carr said her parents instilled in her, one she still keeps close in mind today. She works as the manager of special events at the Peabody Opera House in downtown St. Louis and said being a part of her team at Peabody is no different than her team at Webster.

“A team gets you somewhere,” Carr said. “You can’t get this far by yourself.”

But Carr’s Webster teammates were, and still are, even more than just a team.

“I’ve seen some of them get married. I’ve seen some of them have kids, and I see their kids all the time,” Carr said. “I feel like we are all still a big family.”

That family in Carr’s first year at Webster still stands as the best season in Webster basketball history. The team, coached by Barke, went 25-3 overall — undefeated in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  After winning the conference tournament, they made their way to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Division III tournament. That is the deepest playoff trip any women’s Webster basketball team has made.

“It was amazing from a standpoint of knowing that our future was bright,” Carr said. “It was also one of those experiences where you’re learning a lot and you can see that you can be a great player as long as you put the work in and as long as everyone is willing to work for it.”

During the next three seasons, Carr began to place her name throughout the Webster record books in points, rebounds, steals, free-throws and games played.

The achievement she has held most dearly is breaking the 1,000-point mark during her junior season, making her — at that time — only the fourth Gorlok to do so. She still proudly displays that game ball, signed by all her teammates, on a shelf in her home and is always excited to tell the story when a house guest asks about her memorabilia.

“That was an incredible experience because it was everything that I had worked for,” Carr said. “It was just one of those moments that you are even shocked yourself that you made it to, but at the same time you’re like, ‘Wow, I really did it.’”

Now, as her career has brought her to the Webster Athletic Hall of Fame, she still hopes to share the moment with her teammates and family.

“It’s just one of those scenarios where you’re like, ‘Wow that is pretty awesome that someone wants to honor you,’” Carr said. “It’s one of those things that’s pretty stinking cool that you’re still being thought about five or six years later.”

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