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Bellwood-Antis grad Karson Swogger (2017), a sensational basketball player and extraordinary student, has continued to receive accolades at Saint Francis University, with her most recent achievement being named captain of the Lady Red Flash Women’s Basketball team. 

In her 4-year varsity tenure  at B-A, Swogger has developed not only as a student, but also as a person through her passion to play basketball. She holds countless records for the Lady Blue Devil Basketball, including career points with 2,520, a mark that doubles as the Blair County scoring record.

Swogger also holds B-A records for field goals made and 3-pointers.

Now in her junior year in Loretto, Swogger is seen as the ideal role model and compass of leadership to operate a competitive and hungry Lady Red Flash unit at the Division I level. 

Swogger is averaging 12.1 points per game, with a .326 shooting percentage. On the back of her offensive performance, Swogger is averaging a little under 1 steal per game and has stepped up her game on the defensive boards. Though she and the Red Flash are only seven games into the season, her average’s are setting up to be her best of her three years there, and she’s on pace to become a thousand-point scorer.

Her rise to the role started in the 2018-2019 season, during which the Lady Red Flash played a tough out of conference schedule.

“Going into Northeast Conference play gave us the confidence we needed for the toughest part of the season, being the NEC Championship, though we fell a little short in making it into the NCAA tournament,” Swogger said. “I was fortunate enough to get a lot of minutes as an underclassman, so it gave me the experience and confidence going into this year’s season in a leadership role.”

Swogger started every game as a sophomore and averaged just under 10 points a game, while leading the Lady Flash in assists.

The year before, in her freshman season, the Lady Red Flash won the NEC Championship and made it into the NCAA tournament. It was a time for growth, with the Lady Flash locking up with one of the premier programs in America in the Big  Dance.

“Needless to say, UConn was a tough matchup, but it was an overall great experience to play in front of a large crowd,” Swogger said. 

Swogger appeared in every game as a freshman. In fact, during her career she has started or appeared in all 73 games the Lady Flash have played.

So the pick for team captain this season was one that meant a lot to the demure Swogger, who leads by example.

“I was humbled and honored to be chosen for this. I always thought I showed leadership by setting a good example with hard work both on and off the court. I have always pushed myself to perform at the highest level I possibly can, so being named captain hasn’t really changed my approach to the way I do things,” Swogger said. 

Swogger’s life at Saint Francis is balanced between classes, basketball, study halls, and even finding time to eat. A normal day for Karson looks like this:

“I’m in class or in clinicals, as I am a nursing major, basically from 8-4; then I have lifting and basketball practice right after that. I go eat and start studying for the rest of the night after. I wake up and repeat, keeping my future goals in my mind. This helps me keep positive because I am excited about what the future holds for me. After graduation, I plan to attend nurse anesthetist school which will continue to challenge me on a daily basis. I feel that the discipline of basketball has greatly helped me prepare for that.”

From a small town and now her years at Saint Francis, Swogger has evolved into truly, a different specimen above all. 

The Lady Flash are currently 2-5 and nearing the end of a daunting pre-conference schedule that has included games against Virginia Tech and West Virginia.