According to Oklahoma City University women’s basketball player Tiffany Goldwire, her game can be described as energetic.
“One of our assistant coaches actually calls me the Energizer Bunny, which is funny because I don’t see myself as being that energetic and that spunky and kind of like the fire of the team, but everybody tells me that I am,” Goldwire said. “I think that kind of sums it up, to be energetic and to play for the little girl inside of me that loves basketball.”
Goldwire used that energy to her advantage in a 91-42 victory over Peru State (Neb.), posting her first career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. The senior guard followed that performance with 12 points, all from the free-throw line, and six rebounds in OCU’s 69-57 win over Union (Tenn.), ranked second in NAIA Division I, on Nov. 26. Goldwire is averaging 15 points and 7.5 rebounds for the third-ranked Stars and is this week’s Super Star of the Week.
“Coach talked to us a lot about not looking past Peru and looking toward Union,” Goldwire said. “But I think deep down all of us were super excited to play against second-ranked Union. We saw them at the national tournament last year but never got a chance to play them.I think we were all very anxious and excited to play against somebody with that caliber and to see how we size up against them.”
Goldwire wants to do more than just win games in her senior season.
“I think a lot of it is just reaching all my goals that I’ve set for myself my entire life,” Goldwire said. “Being a leader on and off the floor, being someone that people can look up to and someone that can be counted on to do things that need to be done. I think that a lot of it isn’t about scoring baskets for my team and winning a lot of games, although that would be a plus.”
Goldwire has turned in big performances at big times for OCU and in her junior college career, and she says that her love for the game fuels her.
“When I got to college I was looking forward to playing a higher level of basketball, but when I started to play I just kind of felt like everyone around you and everyone you’re playing against just loved the game and I kind of fell back into that,” Goldwire said. ‘I think that having that spark and having everyone around you with the same spark gives you extra momentum and you just play for the love of it. Being surrounded by everybody else just makes you fall that much more in love with the game and that much more in love with your teammates.”
Majoring in kinesiology, Goldwire appreciates the academic challenges at OCU.
“I think here they push you more than other schools do,” Goldwire said. “Being in athletics, it’s very tough with everything that you have to do plus school work and I think they really push you to think you’re a student first and an athlete second. They push you to higher limits not because you’re a student here, but because you’re an athlete and it raises the bar that much more.”
