Kathy Anderson
Basketball, Softball, Track & Field Student-Athlete
Central Missouri (1976-80)
Anderson helped bring the Jennies basketball program into prominence during her career from 1976-1980. With the Jennies belonging to the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and playing what would today be considered a Division I schedule, she helped lead the Jennies to an 82-31 record over four years. Perhaps her most outstanding accomplishment was her selection as a member of the USA Women's National Basketball program for the three years leading to the 1980 Olympics, which the USA boycotted. In 1977, Anderson served as captain of the USA Women's Junior Basketball team that traveled to Taiwan. 1978 and 1979, she was a member of the USA Women's Senior Basketball teams that traveled to China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Russia. In 1979, Anderson also was selected as an alternate to the Pan-American Games USA team.
For her career, she averaged 14.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game. A native of Sedalia, Missouri, she still ranks fifth at UCM in total points (1,633), second in total rebounds (877) and sixth in steals (288); despite 20+ games where this statistic was not kept. As a senior, she was a second-team Academic All-American selection and she had her No. 32 jersey retired at UCM in 1991. Anderson was inducted into the inaugural Hall of Fame class at the University of Central Missouri in 1992 and was recently honored by her high school, Sedalia Smith-Cotton as a member of their hall of fame and with the retirement of her high school jersey. She was selected as a member of the Jennies All Decade Team (1970's) and the Jennies Silver Anniversary Team. As a multi-sport student-athlete, she also played on the Jennies softball team, earning AIAW State tournament team honors in 1980 as an outfielder and leading the team with a .367 average in 1978. As a freshman in 1977, she placed third in the high jump, fourth in the 100-yard hurdles and sixth in the long jump at the MIAW state track meet. She graduated cum laude from UCM in 1980 with a bachelor of science in education and received her master's of science in physical education with an emphasis in sports administration from Seattle Pacific in 2000. Following college, Anderson went on to pursue a coaching career with stops as an assistant at CSU-Fullerton (5 years), Washington (11 years) and two years in the WNBA.
Anderson began her athletic administrative career at Washington (6 years) and Northwest Missouri State (3 years) and currently serves as the Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations at UCM. She has also served as a past chair of the institutional representatives' council of the MIAA, chair of the NCAA Division II Softball Committee and is presently a member of the Division II Women's Basketball Committee.