Montana State University-Northern women's basketball coach Chris Mouat has announced the signing of Rachel Van Blaricom to join the Skylight program next fall.  Van Blaricom is a 5-foot-9 senior guard from Jefferson County High School in Boulder.

To date, Van Blaricom has scored 999 points for the Panthers, which puts her 189 away from breaking the all-time scoring record at Jefferson High.  She has 406 rebounds, 159 assists, and 234 steals for her career, and averaged 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and nearly 4 steals per game over the past three-plus seasons.  Last season, she scored a career-high 37 points in a game.

"Rachel is a very good addition to our program and university" Mouat said. "She is a talented athlete with a very high ceiling, and she is an outstanding student, carrying a 4.0 grade point average.  I like her toughness and the fact that she can play a number of positions on the floor.  She has improved her perimeter shooting a ton since her freshman season, and has become a player that can score from the 3-point line, in mid-range, and at the rim."

Van Blaricom is a two-time All-State basketball selection.  She also excelled on the volleyball court, where she was also a First-Team All-State selection in volleyball this past season, helping the Panthers to a runner-up finish at the State Class B Volleyball Tournament.
Rachel is the senior class vice president and has been a member of the National Honor Society for three years.  She has been a four-time Academic All-State honoree in both basketball and volleyball.

"We are really excited about Rachel and her future as a student-athlete at MSU-Northern Mouat added. "She has done great things at Jefferson County High School, and is a very strong in-state addition to our program."

Van Blaricom is the daughter of Clint and Desiree Van Blaricom.  She plans on majoring in biology at MSU-Northern.