With two minutes left on the scoreboard and a cheering team on the bench, her teammates out on the court take every opportunity to pass senior forward Chelsea Campellone the ball to top a stellar game performance before the buzzer beats.

The forward notched 43 points in a single game, earning the title of NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Hero of the Week on Monday, Feb. 1.

In an interview with the Journal, Campellone reflected on her story of success. “I wouldn’t say it’s an easy thing to do at the college level,” she said. “I’ve worked very hard to get to where I’m at.”

The sociology major earned the weekly honor for her performance with the Lady Rams on Jan. 23 game versing Lasell. Her 43 points contributed to an 85-63 game win.

Campellone was two points shy in the game of her career from tying with former Lady Ram basketball and softball player Ellen Crotty.

“I wish I knew that the record was 45, because I would have loved to beat it,” she said. “I can’t complain with 43 points. “

The 21-year-old is the first player to surpass 40 points during Coach Ed Leyden’s 22 years of coaching for Suffolk’s women’s basketball team. Campellone has become a better player because of Coach Leyden.

“[Coach Leyden] is a hard coach and he has really pushed me through my four years here,” she said. “I couldn’t have done it without him. He had my back when he learned how many points I had and he kept me in the game even though we were killing [Lasell].”

She also highlighted the success of her team overall in earning the game win. “I thought my team played very well. We stuck to our game plan and it worked in our favor,” she said. “It was a huge conference win.”

The support from her family and friends in voting for her for the Hero of the Week means a great deal to Campellone. Their votes on HeroSports.com helped her surpass nine other players. With the opportunity to advance on to the next round to be crowned Hero Sports Legend of the Year, Campellone hopes and thinks her family and friends will help her earn the title.

“It felt good that everyone was supporting me, I couldn’t have done it without them,” she said.

Campellone hopes to move forward with the honor as a player and as a team by winning the Greater Northeast Athletic Conference championship.

“It’s my senior year, it’s all I really want,” she said. “I believe we can do it. We play hard non-league games to get us ready for power teams like Emmanuel and Johnson & Wales. ”

From practice to the ball swerving mid-air at the center for the start of a game, Campellone focuses on going out on the court to do “the little things” and playing defense. She also added that the team could improve on their communication throughout games.

“Sometimes we lose track of [talking to each other] and that’s what ties together our whole defense,” she said. “This year we don’t really have any stars, we have a hard working team that wants to win. I think this is the hardest working team I’ve been a part of.”

With a few games in hand, Campellone said her collegiate career coming to an end has not settled in just yet. She is still browsing the new Kobe Bryant kicks online, reliving memorable moments game after game like shooting hoops with teammate and sophomore Caitlyn Caramello and listening to tunes composed of Drake and The Weeknd pre-game before it all ends.

“I really can’t picture my life without basketball,” she said. “I’m probably going to be a mess on senior night and especially at that last game.”