Ricarda Kuypers

College: Orange Coast

Sport: Basketball

Position: Guard

Class: Freshman

Kuypers came to Orange Coast from Germany, where she had an impressive list of accomplishments. She was considered a top club-level player and was on the junior national team for two years.

She has had little trouble translating her game to American courts, and is one of the major reasons Orange Coast is off to a 20-3 start and ranked seventh in the state.

Mike Thornton, Orange Coast’s coach, said Kuypers is the quickest player with the ball that he has coached.

She had 29 points and 15 assists in two OCC victories last week. The Pirates beat Fullerton, 75-58, and Rancho Santiago, 88-39.

Kuypers is averaging 14 points and six assists this season for OCC.

Other top performers:

Golden West’s Kristin Brun, who had 13 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and four steals as the Rustlers beat Riverside, 82-65, in a first-place showdown.

Shelley Calhoun, who had 23 points on eight-of-14 shooting from the field as Saddleback upset Riverside, 56-51.