G-K grad Julie Galauner making mark on record book as Aurora University perfect in shortened season

A good player can score 41 points in a game, said Aurora University coach Ryan Rebsom, but a great one does it when the team needs it most.

And that, he said, is what makes Julie Galauner a great player.

The Genoa-Kingston graduate poured in 41 in the second of back-to-back games against Concordia University Chicago on Saturday, keeping the Spartans undefeated on the season, becoming the all-time leader for both the school and the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in career 3-pointers, and tied for second all-time on the school’s leading scorer list.

Galauner said it was an amazing feeling after the game, in which she set a career-high for points on top of the other milestones, but said the big thing was the win.

“I think it’s interesting cause it could be anyone,” said Galauner, the 2017 Daily Chronicle Girls Basketball Player of the Year and all-time leader in points, assists and made 3-pointers at G-K. “It just so happened it was me that night. It’s honestly amazing. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot of attention off of it. Don’t get me wrong I love that but at the end of the day we got the win, we got both the wins. I really didn’t want to split with CUC.”

And win they did, 81-76 after a 90-66 win on Feb. 19.

Rebsom said his young team isn’t built for back-to-back games, and the team needed Galauner to have a huge game. Down at halftime, Galauner scored 19 in the third quarter alone.

“I’ve been part of college basketball‚ a head coach, for 15-plus years now,” Rebsom said. “Every once in a while you need your best players to just use their maturity and force to put the team on their back. ... It was great to sit and watch her lift us up and take us to victory. That’s what the great ones do. Every once in a while a good one will do it but the great ones do it when you need it.”

One mark that may be tough for Galauner to hit is the career scoring mark, held by Kaneland grad Dana Lettow with 1,693. She said he’s about 160 points behind the mark, but with just one regular-season game left.

There will potentially be a postseason for the Spartans as well, and the team has had four games postponed (and likely to be canceled) by COVID-19 so far this year.

But for Galauner, she said the big thing is the undefeated season - the team was 15-11 last year, 11-14 the year before, 14-12 in her freshman year and 6-19 the year before she arrived.

“It’s really fun to win,” Galauner said. “We’re not used to being undefeated. it’s awesome for sure. I think it’s really interesting because we’re turning our culture around. We’re not used to winning all these games and getting this exposure at AU.”

Rebsom, who took over the program in Galauner’s sophomore year, said he’s been impressed with her increased accuracy over the past few seasons.

More than records, Galauner said that’s the one thing she’s worried about.

“It’s definitely something sort of on the back of my mind,” Galauner said. “But I don’t overly play into those things. I don’t worry about records and all those things. The only thing I look at are my own stats, to try to get my percentages better and all that stuff. But it would be nice, for sure.”

So while the all-time scoring record isn’t likely to fall thanks due to the COVID-19 postponements, Galauner said she was still grateful for the chance to even play this year, even though two or three COVID-19 tests a week.

“The nose swab sucks but it is what it is,” Galauner said with a laugh. “As long as we can play.”

And even though she’s gone through testing for months, Galauner said it doesn’t make it any less nerve-wracking.

“There’s definitely that level of uncertainty for sure,” Galauner said. “We know that everyone is being safe and everything. We’re wearing masks during practice and we’re super-cautious outside of practice too. But there’s always that level of ‘Oh my gosh, this one person can ruin it for the whole team.’ But our coaches stress it so much, and obviously we know we’re not going to be able to play if we don’t test, and test negative.”

Galauner said it feels nice to know she’s left her mark on the program, and Rebsom said his staff was blessed having inherited her.

With his fast-paced, gunning style, Rebsom said shooters are at a premium as the Spartans play a positionless brand of basketball. Two of his recruits, like Galauner, are from smaller schools in DeKalb County - Indian Creek senior Brooke Heiman and Hinckley-Big Rock senior Tori Prellberg have committed to the Spartans for next season.

“I’d rather have five Julies than two 6-footers, a true point guard,” Rebsom said. “I’d rather have three Brooke Heiman’s and three Tessa Prellbergs than playing that half-court based game. We’re not sugar-coating these things. She’s going to be gone in a year and there’s going to be some big-time opportunities for someone to step into that scorer’s role.

“Size doesn’t care about shooting the basketball,” he said. “If you’re from Hinckley or your from Maine West, shooting the basketball is shooting the basketball.”

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