It's January 29^th, 2025, and the Charleston Southern women's basketball team is getting ready to host the USC Upstate Spartans and looking for their third-straight victory.
 
For Charleston Southern's Catherine Alben, there was more riding on this game than just another victory. She needed just 10 points to become the 18^th Charleston Southern women's basketball player in school history to score over 1,000 points for her career. She would be just the fifth player of all-time to reach this milestone within her first three years.
 
"I knew that I was close to hitting the mark, but I did not realize that I would get to it that night," said Alben.
 
Alben had seven points at the break and began the second half with a two-point jump shot out of the gate. She was now one point away. With 1:26 left in the third quarter, Alben went to the free throw line, knocking down both free throws.
 
At the end of the third quarter, Alben was surrounded by her teammates when the PA Announcer told the crowd that she notched her 1,000^th career point. When she looked up at the scoreboard and realized that she had done it, she was able to share the moment with her teammates, who were all huddled around her and were just as happy as she was.
 
Alben's story began long before that moment on a Wednesday night in January. Growing up in Snellville, GA, she began playing basketball in the sixth grade. From there, she went on to star at Grayson High School. During her four-year career with the Rams, she was a two-time region champion from 2018-20. She eclipsed over 1,000 points and averaged 18.0 points per game while being named First-Team All-Region.
 
Despite all the success at the high school level, Alben had just one offer during her recruiting process, and it was to Charleston Southern, where Head Coach Clarisse White was beginning a new era of women's basketball at CSU.
 
"We saw Catherine [Alben] play the summer before her senior year in AAU," said White. "With her speed and skill set, we weren't sure if she was already committed somewhere, but we called and invited her to Elite Camp, where we were able to offer her a scholarship because we knew she would be a perfect fit for our program."
 
After being offered by Charleston Southern, Alben made an official visit to the campus. It was here where the coaching staff was able to see her fun-loving and lively personality. The two parties had conversations about where the program was and how she could bring them to the next level.
 
The motto that White has instilled in her program is "Climb the Ladder".  Every season, the team that wins it all hoists the championship trophy and climbs the ladder to cut down the net. That is the goal that Alben and the rest of the Charleston Southern women's basketball team set for themselves each year.
                                                                          
It was going to be a long road. When Alben stepped on campus in the summer of 2022, the Charleston Southern women's basketball program was coming off a 2-27 season and looking to rebuild their program. As Alben puts it, she really did not know what to expect when she got to campus to begin her freshman season, but a team looking to reshape their image allows for an opportunity for early playing time.
 
With the Instagram handle @cathy2fast, Alben immediately showed off her speed and her abilities on the court, bursting onto the scene with a double-double against Georgia College, scoring 22 points and pulling down 13 rebounds in her collegiate debut.
 
Alben did not start for most of the Buccaneers' 30 games during her freshman campaign, and the Buccaneers finished with a 5-25 (3-15 in conference) record; however, she led the team with 9.5 points per game and scored in double figures 12 times during the season, landing on the Big South All-Freshman squad.
 
Looking to make a big jump in her sophomore campaign, Alben as well as teammate and friend Kennedi Jackson were the 1-2 punch that the Buccaneers were looking to for the 2023-24 season. The two teammates spent many hours in the gym trying to improve their craft and take the Buccaneers to the next level.
 
With Alben, Jackson, Madison Adamson and eight new faces taking the court for Coach White for the 2023-24 campaign, the Buccaneers believed that they had a team that could shock the rest of the Big South; however, in the preseason polls, they were picked eighth out of the nine teams in the conference.
 
That only fueled the Buccaneers and Alben herself, who started all 30 games for Charleston Southern and averaged 13.9 points per game while leading the team with 51 steals, earning her Second-Team All-Big South. The Buccaneers more than doubled their win total from the year prior and finished with an 8-8 conference record and a fourth seed in the Big South Tournament, which was their highest finish in the Big South standings since 2010.
 
Despite losing to No. 5 Presbyterian 54-51 in their opening game of the conference tournament last season, Alben and the Buccaneers put the rest of the Big South on watch, and going into her junior season, the Buccaneers were picked to finish No. 3 in the Big South for the 2024-25 season, while Alben was named Preseason First-Team All-Conference.
 
Alben has not fallen short of her expectations, as she has been steering the ship for the Buccaneers all season long. With three Big South Player of the Week awards this season, Alben is second in the conference in points per game (16.7), second in field goal percentage (.428), third in free throw percentage (.788) and is top 10 in three-point field goals made per game as well as steals per game.
 
Her highlights this season include a career-high 29 points at Radford, a 10/14 shooting performance in a home win over Presbyterian and four-straight games of 20 or more points scored.
 
Entering Saturday's rematch against USC Upstate inside the GB Hodge Center, Alben has 1,127-career points (15^th in school history) and is averaging 13.3 points per game during her first three years (9^th in school history).
 
The thing that is most impressive to White the most is that she believes that Alben has not even reached the peak of her potential, and for Alben, she still has goals that are much bigger than what she has already accomplished.
 
"I want to win a championship, and I believe that we have the team to do that," said Alben. "Personally, I want to win Big South Player of the Year."
 
Alben can do just that. As of February 20^th, Charleston Southern sits at 8-6 in conference play, and with the Big South Tournament in Johnson City, TN approaching March 5-9, Alben and the Buccaneers are still on a quest to "Climb the Ladder".