Alyssa Nielsen
Bixby • 5-11 • Fr. • Center

Season averages: 9.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.5 steals

Votes received: 1,538

Next four vote-getters: Journey Armstead, Sand Springs; Nakia Cullom, Will Rogers; Charie Barnett, Morris; Alice Stevenson, Perkins-Tryon

Alyssa on being Ms. Inside:

“This is so cool. I have a great community of people who were sharing the link all over social media and telling me they were voting for me.”

On coming from third place in the balloting over the final two weeks:

“It seemed like everybody who had ever seen me play was like, ‘Go vote for this girl!’ It showed that people are in my corner and actually care about what I’m doing.”

On her first varsity basketball season:

“Until this year, I had been the tallest player on the court in every game I ever played. Now, 6-foot isn’t so crazy tall anymore. It rocked my world. I had to get better at dribbling and I couldn’t just body my way through people. I learned from every senior on my team and I watched how (Sapulpa forward) Temira Poindexter and (Union center) Jayla Burgess carry themselves and keep their heads in every situation. It really taught me a lot.”

From head coach Tina Thomas:

“A hard-working, coachable kid. As solid as she is now, she has tremendous growth potential. When she is offensively more diverse and improves on her defensive fundamentals, she will be hard to stop. She’s on a team surrounded by other really good kids and players.”

Accomplishments

Received more votes in the Inside/Outside balloting than any other candidate, male or female. Helped lead a team with four freshman starters to a 6A No. 10 ranking and fourth-place Frontier Conference finish. Scored a season-high 18 vs. Southmoore on Dec. 15. Posted her first varsity double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) vs. Putnam West on Jan. 9. Part of junior high teams that were 33-0 the past two years. Serves as freshman class president. Has a weighted 4.3 GPA, taking all Advanced Placement classes.