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Riverside City College women's basketball center forward. Photo taken by Steven Smith of Viewpoints.

Published: May 28, 2015 | Posted: May 29, 2015 | Written by Alexis Naucler

Tori Mitchell, Riverside City College women’s basketball center forward, has been shooting hoops since she was about six or seven. Mitchell was introduced to the sport by her parents and grew up around it her whole life.

“My dad grew up around the sport so I followed after him and it’s basically a family sport,” Mitchell said.

Before attending RCC, Mitchell played center for Florida A&M University in the Fall of 2013. When asked if she preferred RCC or Florida A&M, she chose RCC, saying being home really benefited her.

“When I transferred in from Florida I really didn’t play a lot so my goal was to get in shape, do what I need to do and able to become successful,” Mitchell said.

At the beginning of this season, Mitchell’s goal was to “stay afloat” and had never planned on breaking records, winning awards or being looked at by Cheryl Miller. Miller came to meet the coach and the team Feb. 24. Although Mitchell isn’t attending Langston University, where Miller coaches, Miller mentioned she will stay in contact with her and continue to follow her in her basketball career.

“I definitely wanted to average a double-double, which I accomplished,” Mitchell said. “I wasn’t expecting breaking records or anything like that, it just came with the territory.”

During the Tigers’ match against Cuesta College on Feb 25, Mitchell broke head coach Alicia Berber’s defensive rebounding record of 242, set in her 1995-96 season, by a mere two points. In this game alone, Mitchell scored 15 rebounds. Over the season, Mitchell scored 2.3 blocks per game, totaling to 69.

“It just kind of happened and I hadn’t looked at that all year…no one’s ever come close to my rebounding,” Berber said.

Mitchell received several awards at the team’s banquet including Co-MVP, with Tierra Fuqua, first team All-State and first team All-Conference. Mitchell, along with Fuqua and Tamera Herring, attended the Championship Banquet on March 13 where they were honored for their All-State, then played in the Sophomore Showcase on March 14.

Looking towards the future, Mitchell hopes to follow in her uncle’s footsteps and play overseas. She has been accepted to Southern Utah University and will study Kinesiology.