Maud Ranger, the only Westmont women’s basketball player to be part of four Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament championship teams, will continue her playing career in Scotland.
Ranger will play for the University of Edinburgh while she pursues a master’s degree in management at the school. In addition, she’ll start a pro basketball career with the Caledonia Pride of the Women’s British Basketball League (WBBL), the top professional women’s basketball league in Great Britain.
“The head coach of the university usually scouts scholar athletes and happened to find me in his search,” said Ranger, who is from Paris, France. “He then contacted me to ask me if I would be interested in pursuing a master’s degree while continuing basketball. Given the current lack of job opportunities and my desire to eventually pursue a higher education, I thought it would be the perfect time to do that.”
The professional team she’ll be signing with plays its home games at the University of Edinburgh.
She said the university and WBBL seasons usually overlap, with the WBBL season lasting longer. She is unsure of the start dates for either season this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ranger had a fantastic senior season at Westmont. She earned NAIA Third Team All-American honors and was named to the All-Golden State Athletic Conference Team. She became just the second Warrior ever to average a double-double (11.7 points per game, 10.0 rebounds per game). She also averaged 34.3 minutes per game, the most in a single season in program history.
Her 96 3-point field goals made in 2019-20 are tied for the second most ever by a Warrior in a single season, just three behind the all-time mark set by Meghan O’Donogue in 2005-06.
She never got the chance to break that record as the 2020 NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championships were canceled due to COVID-19.
“I certainly did not think that I would play for any other team post-Westmont,” Ranger said. “But this was an opportunity that I could not pass up. Continuing basketball at a competitive level while pursuing a degree in a new learning environment is incredibly exciting. I am just grateful for the possibility of stepping on a court again given how my senior season ended.”
Ranger finished her Westmont career ranked in the top-10 in program history in six statistical categories: third in 3-pointers made (251) and minutes played (3,504), fifth in games played (127), tied for sixth in games started (94), as well as eighth in both 3-point shooting percentage (.358) and rebounds (605).
“Maud loves the game of basketball as much as anyone I have ever coached,” said Westmont coach Kirsten Moore. “Her sheer joy for competition oozed out of her not just in the big moments on game day, but also in the day-to-day grind of practice and preparation.”
Ranger graduated from Westmont in May with a bachelor’s degree in economics and business.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.