Mari Hill is the starting point guard for the Bowling Green State University @BGSUwbb women's basketball team and is making history this season by being the first Japanese native to play women's basketball in the Mid-American Conference. 

Mari Hill has started the first 15 games this season and in her first game as a Falcon, the junior college transfer tallied nine steals against Cleveland State @ClevelandStWBB, falling one shy of the school's single season record. Recently, she tied her career high with 17 points against Ball State and she posted a career high of 9 assists against Purdue ⁦@PurdueWBB.

Hill grew up in an athletic family and enjoys playing tennis and bowling, but basketball has always been her love. She decided to transfer to Asuwa High School after her freshman season and move away from her family to live in dorms so she could  perfect her craft. 

After High School, she attended Tallahassee Community College and has a freshman, Hill started 19 games. She averaged 5.9 points per game, 2.1 assists per game, and 1.4 steals per game. Her team made the NJCAA Championship Tournament and was seeded 11th out of 24 teams. The Eagles then proceeded to win all five of their tournament games, including the national championship versus Trinity Valley. The Eagles became the lowest seed in NJCAA Division I history to win the tournament.

Then after the season, she decided to transferred to South Georgia Tech College @SGTCJets, which is regarded as a powerhouse Junior College program for the 2018-19 season.  Under Head Coach James Frey's @FreyJfrey leadership, Hill improved her leadership qualities and basketball skill set. Hill averaged 5.6 points and 4.8 rebounds. At 6.4 assists per game, Hill led her conference and ranked third in the nation (211 assists). She also averaged 3.7 steals per game, ranking second nationally (122) and finished seventh in the nation in ATO. Mari was named MVP of the NJCAA Region XVII Tournament and helped South Georgia Tech reach the NJCAA National Tournament.
 

After the season, Hill followed in her sister footsteps and signed a Division 1 Scholarship.

Her sister, Rina Hill, started 87 of her 125 games at LSU @LSUwbkb. Rina was the first signee in LSU history from Japan and was the first Japanese native to play women's basketball in the SEC. 

James Frey her former Junior College head coach had this to say about Hill, "Mari was a great teammate and great to coach. Her work ethic made her very recruitable to Division 1 schools. I am not surprised at all that she is having the success that she is having at Bowling Green. I think she will continue to improve and be an All-Conference type of point guard by the time she's finished next year."

Mari Hill and the Falcons will be playing on ESPN+ at 6:00 PM tomorrow night. Be sure to watch this true point guard from Japan in action. Watch Here

Video by @BGFalconMedia