Daily Journal Athletes of the Week: Menlo’s Ruiqi Liu and Karen Xin

In earning Daily Journal Athlete of the Week honors, Liu finished with a double-double of 27 points and 13 rebounds, while Xin scored 14 points. Still, after the smoke had cleared from the postgame celebration and CCS championship trophy presentation, Xin was all too ready to pick apart her performance when asked if she felt perfect.

“No,” Xin said. “I probably should appreciate the moment a little bit more, but after it happened for the fourth time, the first things that go through my head are: ‘OK, I got picked on that play; I missed that track down; that shot I shouldn’t have taken; this one hit the side of the rim because I was off-balance.’ Those are the first things that I think about. So, no, definitely not perfect.”

Liu wasn’t in earshot of Xin’s answer, but she soon gave a similar one.

“No,” Liu said. “Why would I? It’s incredibly hard to be perfect in basketball, especially because a lot of it is based on your own reads and how you react to what’s happening on the court. Every game feels individual from the next, and I’m coming into this game like any other game. It doesn’t mean much more to me than any other game would. But they all mean a lot. So, no, it doesn’t feel perfect.”

Menlo’s hoops stars are consistently in sync with each other, and will have the chance to continue their uncanny ability to read each others minds at the next level. The two are both committed to play NCAA Division III basketball at University of Chicago, where they will look to expand on their incredible run of a program-record four straight CCS titles at Menlo.

With the duo accounting for 41 of Menlo’s 54 points Saturday, all the other Lady Knights were still constantly involved in the flow of the game. This goes beyond the game play of sophomore guard Sophia Longinitis, who also scored in double figures, knocking down four 3-pointers to total 12 points.

“Amazing,” Longinitis said of Menlo’s seniors. “[Xin] and Ruiqi are knockdown shooters. They’re always in the gym, and it really just goes to show when they’re in-game how much they practice.”

Liu and Xin were spectacular from long range as well. Liu hit four 3s in the game, while Xin added two. It was quite the flamboyant performance. Since the game was played at Mission College, there were two sets of 3-point lines — a white high school line, and a deeper, black college line.

While the sophomore Longinitis demonstrated the referees were in fact calling 3s from behind the shorter, white line, as she was toeing it on most of her 3-point attempts, Liu and Xin seemed insistent on shooting all theirs from back of the college line.

“We’ve tried to play strategically in events where it’s a college court,” Menlo head coach Ryan Cooper said. “So, it’s not our first time doing this. Luckily, Mission has the white line visible. But shooters want to shoot, and when they see that line, sometimes it’s hard to recognize the difference.”

Surely, it’s hard to recognize what one does not see.

“This is a bad habit so I don’t mean it in a bragging way,” Xin said. “I do not check where my feet are before I shoot. So, sometimes I get into trouble, sometimes I hit an air ball, but, you know, most of them go in.”

Once again, Liu was right in sync with Xin’s answer.

“It’s just a lack of awareness,” Liu said.

Liu and Xin have been shouldering the scoring load all season for Menlo, but it has been Liu emerging in the postseason. Sporting her signature black knee-length stretch pants and whale-tail haircut, Liu recorded double-doubles in each of Menlo’s three CCS playoff games, including 14 points and 13 rebounds against Pacific Grove in the opener, and 20 points and 11 rebounds in the semifinals against Notre Dame-Belmont.

“She’s unbelievable,” Cooper said. “She’s going to have an unbelievable college career at the University of Chicago. And she’s just been a four-year starter, and just an anchor for our program. Obviously the offensive stuff shows, but her ability — we’re not the biggest team — and her ability to neutralize size without fouling in unbelievable.”

And the leadership factor of the two seniors — on a mostly underclassman team that has just two juniors in Sophie Housser and Maren Molloy — is undeniable.

“Really great leader,” Longinitis said of Xin. “Karen’s always pumping us up. She’s always giving us great advice, and I feel like I wouldn’t be able to do things as great — we wouldn’t be able to succeed without her.”