UC Irvine senior Andee Ritter has come a long way from her days on the outdoor court at her family's ranch in Bonanza, which is located just outside of Klamath Falls in southern Oregon.
 
Despite being raised in a small town with a population of less than 500, Ritter, who is the second youngest of five children, found her love for basketball at a young age.
 
"My sister Jenni, who is 10 years older than me, played and I really wanted to be like her," Ritter said. "I remember always seeing her out there shooting until the stars came out."
 
Jenni went on to play two years at Portland State. Andee's brother, Paxton, also played at San Diego Christian College, and her younger sister, Kaylene, played at Arizona Christian University. Andee, meanwhile, has been leaving her legacy at UC Irvine.
 
The 6-foot senior guard will enter her final regular-season game on Saturday ranked second in school history in both three-pointers made (196) and steals (187). She needs only three more triples and two more steals to break UCI's all-time career records. Ritter has also racked up 934 points and 364 rebounds, but bigger than the numbers are the impact she's made on her teammates and coaches as a three-time team captain.
 
"Andee's on-court leadership speaks for itself in terms of the way she steps up for us both offensively and defensively," third-year head coach Tamara Inoue said. "She's not the most vocal kid out there, but she leads by example and really sets the bar high for our younger kids."
 
"I don't think there's a better shooter out there that I've coached," Inoue added. "She is able to knock down timely shots and is setting records here at Irvine, and she wants more. She's not timid; great shooters believe they can make any shot. That is what you need from a shooter, and I think she's definitely brought that."
 
It's no surprise Ritter has the confidence to shoot from anywhere on the court since she's been working at her craft for a long time.
 
"I would always do summer camps and skills camps, and I was always shooting," Ritter said. "I've been shooting threes since third grade."
 
The hard work has definitely paid off, but it hasn't come without a few setbacks.  
 
Things were going great for Ritter after moving to Medford, Ore., in eighth grade for the higher-level basketball programs. As a freshman at South Medford High School, she was part of the 2012 OSAA 6A state title team, and was getting looked at by college coaches in her first two years. Then, as a junior and senior, she tore her ACL and meniscus.
 
"It was pretty rough to be honest; I had three surgeries on one knee, but I'm still here," Ritter said. "I've worked hard to be here. Mentally, you definitely get down, but I was in high school and I really wanted to play in college so I couldn't let myself get down."
 
Her perseverance proved to the coaching staff at UC Irvine that she could compete at the NCAA Division I level, and it was the perfect fit for Ritter, who had initially been looking at schools in the Southern California area. It was also just a short drive down to San Diego where her brother lives.
 
With her knee injury, Ritter missed the first half of her freshman campaign at UCI, but made an immediate impact during conference play where she was named to the league's All-Freshman Team. In early January, however, the head coach who recruited her, Doug Oliver, announced he would be retiring. There was understandably some hesitation from Ritter with the imminent transition at the end of the season, but once she met Coach Inoue and her staff, she knew she was in good hands.
 
"When these coaches came in, we started doing all this skill work, and I really felt like they could make me better," Ritter said. "I could see their dedication to helping us improve, and to bringing in the right people. I liked that a lot about them."
 
Ritter flourished under the new coaching staff, making a single-season school-record 87 three-pointers as a sophomore. She also received All-Big West honorable mention distinction. One year later, she saw the team success that she had been missing from her high school days.
 
In 2017-18, UC Irvine finished with more wins than the previous three years combined. The Anteaters' 18 victories ranked fourth in program history and were the most by a UCI squad in 23 years. They also made their first postseason appearance since 1995.
 
"It's huge in the rebuilding process when you can inherit a kid like Andee," Inoue said. "I'm sure she had options to go elsewhere, but she believed in Irvine, and she believed in us and what we were doing here."
 
This year, Ritter, who will be graduating with a degree in sociology, has led the 'Eaters to a 17-win season, but she and her teammates aren't satisfied yet.
 
"Last year was definitely a high with us more than tripling our number of wins," Ritter said. "But this year, we are hoping the high will be winning the conference tournament."
 
UC Irvine will host the first two rounds of the Big West Tournament, March 12-13. The semifinals and championship game will then move to the Honda Center in Anaheim, March 15-16.