Bianca Ygarza ‘14 (nursing) played basketball with her sister Alicia Ygarza ‘16 at Penn Manor High School in Millerville, Pennsylvania, and chose to continue her career at EMU to study nursing after Coach Kevin Griffin made a trip to see her play. “He was interested in developing my basketball skills and interested in my development as a person.”
At EMU, Ygarza developed into a versatile post player who became the only woman in program history to capture All-ODAC First Team honors three times, earning the distinction in 2012, 2013 and 2014; she received VaSID All-State Second Team honors those same three years. During her sophomore and senior years, Ygarza made the D3hoops.com All-South Region Third Team and won the EMU Female Athlete of the Year award. She still remembers pulling out an exciting win against rival Bridgewater in “the kind of moment athletes dream of” to spark a 22-4 record for the 2011-2012 season—a season she shot 58 percent from the field, an EMU record that stands today. Ygarza also ranks seventh all-time in scoring with 1,215 points and eighth in career rebounds with 671.
Ygarza played the last two of her four seasons with her sister. Ygarza currently works as a nurse at UPMC Lititz hospital, close to where the two grew up. She also serves as an adjutant general officer for human resources in the Army Reserve with her unit in Waldorf, Maryland. She still plays basketball regularly and looks forward to introducing her four-year-old son, Jace, to the game.
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