NEW BEDFORD — As we approach the United States’ 250th anniversary, USA TODAY Sports will commemorate the event by celebrating the 250 greatest American sports figures of all-time.
The USA TODAY Network will also dive into the roots of the country’s sports culture by highlighting high school athletes and sports figures who shaped communities and defined their states.
We began with football and are now focused on girls basketball with boys basketball to follow.
Five girls basketball players — Katherine Cheesebro, Jessica Gaspar, Kara Charette, Gretchen Rodrigues and Kate O’Shaughnessy — were selected by sports writers Steven Sanchez, Cameron Merritt and myself to represent the Greater New Bedford area for the SouthCoast all-time greats.
Here are the top 5 selected and their achievements.
Katherine Cheesebro, Dartmouth
Cheesebro, a three-time Standard-Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year, became Dartmouth’s all-time leading scorer with 2,058 points, breaking Jessica Gaspar’s mark of 1,840 set in 1995. Cheesebro is just the second girls basketball player from the SouthCoast to surpass 2,000 career points and now holds the area’s record for most career points scored by a girls basketball player, surpassing the mark of 2,009 established by Old Colony’s Karen Walsh in 1996. As a senior, Cheesebro averaged 27.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.4 steals to help Dartmouth win a second straight Southeast Conference title and a fourth straight state tournament appearance, including a trip to the 2025 Div. 2 Elite 8. Dartmouth finished the year with a record of 20-3. She was named the 2025 Dave Cowens Achievement Award winner.
Jessica Gaspar, Dartmouth
In her four years at Dartmouth, Gaspar set the school’s all-time scoring record (for boys and girls basketball) with 1,840 points (a mark recently broken by Kat Cheesebro). She helped Dartmouth go 71-9 with four Eastern Athletic Conference championships. As a senior, she averaged 27.4 points and just under 10 rebounds to power Dartmouth to a trip to the state semifinals her senior year in 1995 and earned the Dave Cowens Achievement Award, New England Gatorade Player of the Year Award for the second time and Nike/Foot Locker and Parade Magazine All-American. She was also selected as USA Today and Smith and Street’s Female Athlete of the Year for Massachusetts. Gaspar went on to play at the University of North Carolina for three years, recording a 7.3 ppg average, 207 assists, 144 steals and 261 rebounds, finishing ninth on the school’s all-time charts in both assists and steals. She played professionally in Iceland, where she broke a team single-game record for assists with 17.
Kara Charette, Fairhaven
Charette helped Fairhaven reach the 2012 Div. 3 state semifinal after an undefeated South Coast Conference championship her senior year in which she averaged 19.1 points and 11.5 rebounds. She finished her high school career as the school’s all-time leading scorer (boys and girls) with 1,688 points and a school-record 1,081 rebounds. She was named the Standard-Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year and won the Dave Cowens Achievement Award. Charette was also a standout in girls volleyball, helping Fairhaven win back-to-back South Sectional championships. She graduated as the school’s all-time leader with 1,175 kills. Charette went on to play basketball at Franklin Pierce University.
Gretchen Rodrigues, New Bedford
A four-year starter at New Bedford, Rodrigues earned league and Standard-Times All-Star honors all four years. She was a two-time Standard-Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year and won the Dave Cowens Achievement Award her senior year. Rodrigues set school records in girls basketball for career points (1,390), most 3-pointers made in a game (8) and most points in a game (37) as well as overall school records for boys and girls basketball in career 3-pointers (243) and most 3-pointers made in a single season (91). She was the only girl from Massachusetts to be named to the Adidas Top 100 All-America Team her senior year. She went on to play at Dean College, UMass Lowell and Bloomfield College.
Kate O’Shaughnessy, Old Rochester
O’Shaughnessy was a driving force in Old Rochester’s dream season to the 1998 state championship as she averaged 12 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.6 steals and 3.9 assists for the 24-2 Bulldogs. In her four years, ORR won a pair of South Coast Conference championships and set the school record for most wins in a season. She was named the Dave Cowens Achievement Award winner as she finished as Old Rochester’s all-time leading scorer in girls basketball. O’Shaughnessy went on to play four years of soccer and one of basketball at Holy Cross.
Just missed the top 5
Below are the athletes that just missed the cut, but still deserve mention.
Stacey Conant, Apponequet
A four-year varsity player, who averaged 13.5 points and 10.2 rebounds as a freshman, went on to finish her career at Apponequet as the school’s all-time leading scorer (1,343 points), rebounder (763) and shot blocker (264). She averaged 16.1 points over her career and had double-figure rebounds in 72 of her 81 games. She was a multi-South Coast Conference and Standard-Times All-Star as well as Standard-Times Co-Player of the Year with Old Rochester’s Kate O’Shaughnessy in her senior season.
Erin Harrington, Bishop Stang
Harrington wrapped up her four-year varsity career as Bishop Stang’s all-time leading scorer (1,680 points) and rebounder (262). She also set a single-season record of 512 points, averaging 21.3 points her senior year to power the Spartans to a 17-3 record and a trip to the Div. 3 tournament. She was a four-time Eastern Athletic Conference All-Star.
Erin Baldwin, Fairhaven
A two-time Standard-Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year her junior and senior seasons, Baldwin finished her career in 2008 as the school’s all-time leading scorer in girls basketball with 1,466 points, a mark that has since been broken. Baldwin helped the Blue Devils to an overall record of 72-26 and a pair of South Coast Conference championships, earning SCC All-Star honors all four years. In her junior year, Baldwin powered Fairhaven to a 22-3 record and the school’s first South Coast Conference championship and an appearance in the Eastern Massachusetts Div. 3 South Sectional title game. As a senior, Baldwin’s Blue Devils went 20-5 and lost in the South Sectional semifinals.
Stephanie Antoine, GNB Voc-Tech
As a four-year starter, she turned around GNB Voc-Tech’s girls basketball program, powering the Bears to back-to-back South Sectionals titles and a state final appearance her senior year in 2012. She finished her career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,426 points, a mark that has recently been surpassed by Jai-Ana Silva. Antonie was also a record-breaking track athlete and volleyball star.
Nakira Examond, GNB Voc-Tech
A two-time Standard-Times Girls Basketball Player of the year, Examond powered the Bears to three South Sectional titles and trips to TD Garden. She finished her four-year career with more than 1,400 career points, over 900 rebounds, more than 200 assists and over 100 blocks as she averaged 17.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 2.0 steals a game in her senior season. A tenacious and athletic inside scorer and rebounder on the basketball court, she ran the floor well.
Allexia “Lex” Barros, New Bedford
A dangerous three-point shooter, Barros helped lead the Whalers to a pair of Big 3 Conference championships, a perfect regular season as a junior and two TD Garden appearances in the MIAA state tournament. The three-year starter averaged 15 points and 5 assists her senior year and finished her career just shy of 1,000 points. She went on to play for the Community College of Rhode Island and the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. Barros also played internationally for Cape Verde Women’s National Team and she’s a four-time Women’s American Basketball Association All-Star.
Alyssa Roach, New Bedford
A two-sport star at New Bedford in soccer and basketball, Roach powered the Whalers to a pair of Big 3 Conference championships and a historic 20-0 regular season her senior year. Roach and the Whalers made their third trip to TD Garden, but lost to Andover. As the team’s starting point guard, she averaged 17.7 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 steals, and finished her career as New Bedford’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer with 1,284 points.
Karen Walsh, Old Colony
Walsh became the first local girls basketball player to surpass 2,000 career points, finishing her four-year career at Old Colony with 2,009 points. She averaged 24 points in 82 games and reached double digits every single game. As a senior, she scored 606 points and was named a tri-winner of the 1996 Dave Cowens Achievement Award.
Rita Roach, Wareham
No one was better on the hardwood in the late 1970s and early 1980s than Roach, who was named the Standard-Times Player of the Year as a junior in 1981-82. She led Wareham to the Southeastern Massachusetts Conference crown, Div. 1 championship and South Sectional Div. 2 title. In her senior year, Roach averaged 18 points and seven assists a game. She finished her career as Wareham’s all-time scoring leader in girls basketball with 1,362 points without the benefit of a 3-point line and having to play with a male-size basketball before the smaller female-size ball was introduced years later. She went on to play four years of basketball at Boston College and was captain her junior and senior seasons.
VOTE for your favorite here!
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Greater New Bedford’s best high school girls basketball players ever