Kean's Melissa Beyruti About to Become NCAA's Queen of Threes

Ever had those moments in a pick-up basketball game where the hoop looks as big as a kiddie swimming pool? Melissa Beyruti of Kean (N.J.) University in Division III has whole games like that.

And the funny thing for the fifth-year senior is that a lot of the three-pointers she hits come in such bunches that Beyruti doesn't even recall them.

Like the time in January when Beyruti hit 10 treys in a game against Lycoming (Pa.). The shots came so frequently that the 5-foot-8 guard from Union City, N.J. had to be told that she had made that many.

"Me neither," said Beyruti, when told that 10 three-pointers is a hard concept for someone to grasp. "Really? I didn't think I had hit that many. I just thought I couldn't miss."

Indeed, Beyruti has missed so infrequently in her career that she is poised to become the most prolific three-point shooter in women's college basketball history.

Her 391 treys has already zoomed her past the 368 accumulated by Meegan Garrity of Clark University (Mass.) as the Division III career mark as well as the Division II mark of 385, set by Lorie Martinez of Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Beyruti stands just one three-pointer behind Laurie Koehn of Kansas State, who stands atop Division I and all of women's college basketball. She can pass Koehn as early as Tuesday, when the Cougars host a semifinal game in the New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament.

"I guess it (the career mark) just means that I worked hard and I deserve whatever I get because I'm dedicated," said Beyruti, the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,952 points.

Coach Michele Sharp, who has led Kean to a pair of Elite 8 appearances in the last four years, calls Beyruti a "gym rat" that never wants to leave a game.

"Melissa thinks she's open once she crosses half court. I don't think she's ever hesitated and that's what's made her so good. She wants the ball when it matters most, but she's taken pressure off everybody else."
- Michele Sharp,
Kean Coach More importantly, Sharp said, Beyruti has consistently displayed a shooter's confidence, an arrogance, of sorts, that every shot she takes will go in, regardless of where she is on the court and who's guarding her.

"Melissa thinks she's open once she crosses half court," said Sharp, with a laugh. "I don't think she's ever hesitated and that's what's made her so good. She wants the ball when it matters most, but she's taken pressure off everybody else."

Indeed, Sharp, who coached Division I Manhattan to the 1991 tournament, is so confident in Beyruti's accuracy that "if you give me her against Diana Taurasi and all they have to do is shoot, I'm going to put my money on Melissa."

Sharp, in her 12th year at Kean, is quick to acknowledge, "everybody will tell me I'm crazy" for such a pronouncement and limits the comparison between Beyruti and Taurasi to their shooting skills, not their one-on-one abilities.

Still, Sharp has seen enough of Beyruti's shooting exploits, dating back to when she entered the starting lineup to be a believer.

Beyruti, who missed most of last year with a meniscus tear in her knee, returned this season as a smarter, more efficient shooter. Though she leads Kean in scoring (13.8 points per game), her scoring is the lowest since her freshman year, as well as her minutes.

Yet, Beyruti's three-point percentage (43.4) is higher than her overall shooting percentage (40.9) for the year, and she believes she is playing a smarter, all-around game.

"I sat the bench (last year) and I looked throughout the whole year to see what I could get out of it, not only as a player, but as a coach," said Beyruti. "I think I'm more accurate (this season). I think I select my shots better."

Beyruti's improved shot selection has had a positive effect on her Cougar teammates who have taken advantage of the extra attention she draws.

"The good thing is when people try to overplay her or take her out of her game, we have other kids who can shoot from the perimeter and the post," said Sharp. "It's much more difficult this year to focus on Melissa because we can hurt you in other ways."

The Cougars, who dropped their season opener to Division I Rutgers on the road, haven't lost since. The win streak is up to 24 and Kean has zoomed to No. 2 on the Division III coaches' poll.
"I thought we had a really good team (last season) and I thought we could possibly go on to win the whole thing,' said Beyruti. "We're a much better team this year and we can handle pressure."

Beyruti says she's not thinking about what happens after this season, but Sharp believes that, just as Koehn scratched out a four-year WNBA career as a designated shooter, it's entirely possible that Beyruti could get a chance to play professionally either domestically or in Europe.

It's a certainty, though, that if Beyruti gets a shot, she won't pass it up.