Kirwin Anderson, Ann
College Player
Inducted
2018
The list of Ann Kirwin Anderson's distinguished accomplishments is seemingly endless. From her honorable academic and athletic career at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., and her coaching career, to her efforts encouraging her five children, Emily, Kiley, Brinley, Molly and Bryce, finding their paths through sports, Ann’s dedication and determination has never wavered.
A 1987 graduate, Ann was inducted into the Bucknell Hall of Fame in 1998. She was the first player in the history of the Bucknell women's basketball program to score 1,000 points and was the school's record-holder with 1,343 points upon her graduation. Twice selected to the Academic All-America second team, Ann was named East Coast Conference Scholar-Athlete as a junior and later captured the Christy Mathewson Award, honoring Bucknell's outstanding senior athlete.
At Bucknell, Ann, a forward, averaged 12.4 points and 6.5 rebounds. She still holds spots on the all-time list in points (9th), rebounds (707, 9th), blocked shots (87, 9th), free throws made (411, 3rd) and free throws attempted (561, 4th). Her 22 free throw attempts, on Dec. 8, 1984 against St. Peter's, still ties for the single-game record. A two-time captain, Ann scored her 1,000th career point at The Palestra, a renowned arena in Philadelphia, calling that one of her basketball highlights. In 1986, she was named to the All-Northeast Region first team and to the American Women's Sports Foundation All-America second team.
Following her Bucknell career, Ann played two seasons for Eintracht Frankfurt, a German First League professional basketball team. She also coached the club’s high school team to an appearance in the German Final Four.
Ann, who earned dual degrees from Bucknell in international relations and Spanish, received a Fulbright scholarship during the summer of 1986 to study in Costa Rica. In 1987, she was awarded the Eleanor Decker Prize as Bucknell's Woman of the Year. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Ann graduated magna cum laude from Bucknell and went on to become an honors graduate of the UConn School of Law. In 2009, she served as the keynote speaker at Bucknell University’s homecoming and its celebration of 125 years of women on campus.
“Basketball has been an important vehicle in my academics, life-long friendships and world travel,” said Ann, who first learned to love the sport while watching the Boston Celtics teams of the 1970s. “I played 17 seasons in the Haddam-Killingworth men's rec league (ages 30-47), but a torn Achilles ended my competitive playing days in 2013. My current personal goal in basketball is to continue to foster my son Bryce's passion for the game.”
Ann is a 1983 graduate of Hand High School and played for Coach Jim Bombaci, whom she would later return to assist at Haddam-Killingworth. Though she won three Shoreline Conference titles as a player, winning the 2009 Shoreline title as an assistant coach to Bombaci is another of her basketball highlights. In that game, her daughter, Emily, scored the game-winning free throws in double overtime.
A resident of Killingworth, Ann is a licensed attorney, and for several years she served as an adjunct faculty member in legal studies at Quinnipiac University. She enjoys hiking and camping, along with traveling during the summer with her children's various club lacrosse and AAU basketball teams.