Feb. 13, 2008

The Ballarat Community Health Lady Miners have recruited a non-Australian player for the first time in 5 seasons, signing 6-foot Crystal "Tuff" Coston (Mobile, Ala.) for the 2008 SEABL season.

Coston played four seasons with the University of Mobile, and in 2007 played in Ireland. In four years at Mobile, Coston was a 4-time NAIA All-American, 2-time Kodak All-American, and 2-time GCAC Player of the Year. Coston is also the only member of the 2,000-point club at Mobile, with a career point total of 2,073 points. She is also the career-leader with 1,259 rebounds.

Lady Miners coach Kym Cassells has been impressed with what she has seen.

"Crystal definitely earns her nickname" Cassells said. "She is a different style of player than we have had, she seems to thrive on contact and muscling players around."

Cassells says that after 4 successive SEABL Grand Finals, a new dimension is exactly what the team needs.

As for Coston, she is looking forward to playing basketball on the other side of the globe, saying, "I am thankful for the opportunity to join the club and I'm excited about coming and playing in Australia".

"I looked on the world map to find that Ballarat is a long way from Mobile, Alabama.  However, I look forward to seeing what the culture and game is like there. "

Ballarat Basketball Club General Manager Robbie Burns said the race was now on to have Coston's visa granted in time for the first game - a grand final rematch against Bendigo Lady Braves at the Minerdome on 1 March.