Kern Sisters Bring Family Bond to the Hardwood

Never underestimate the value of a familial bond in sports.
Throughout the sporting world, sibling duos have combined to
pose dangerous threats to opposing teams. The Oakland Athletics
have Jason and Jeremy Giambi. The Florida Panthers have Pavel
and Valeri Bure. And the Columbia Lions have Patricia and Susan
Kern.

The two sisters from New Rochelle, N.Y., both play on the
women's basketball squad and are believed to be the first sibling
duo to play on the team in its 19-year history.

Columbia fans may already be familiar with Patricia, who, as a
junior, is the team's starting point guard and co-captain. But new to
the Lions this season is her sister Susan, a first-year who is
splitting time at the small forward position with fellow first-year
Nicole Lesko.

"I expect a lot out of her," Patricia said of her sister, who has
already made her presence felt in the season's early stages as
the team's third leading scorer.

With a father who coached at Fordham University and a mother
who coached at the College of New Rochelle, the Kerns played
basketball together throughout their childhood, including two years
at Ursuline High School.

"We just loved the sport at an early age," Susan said.

After two years of playing without Susan at Columbia, Patricia
convinced her sister to join her among the ranks of the Light Blue.
The transition from high school to college basketball has been
much easier than Susan had thought it would be.

"It's been really easy because practice gets you so prepared for
the games," Susan said. "Patricia really helped me prepare for the
transition during the summer. She's been great, [but] she hasn't
shown me any favoritism."

For Patricia, the addition of a player to the team with whom she is
familiar was a welcome one, but not necessarily an essential
one.

"I've played the last two years with [junior guard] Megan [O'Neill], so
I'm really comfortable with her," Patricia said. "But it is nice and
comfortable to have such a familiar person on the court."

Nonetheless, as a team with seven first-years and just four
upperclassmen on its roster, the Lions will gladly take any added
familiarity.

"I know how she plays," Susan said. "I really like the way she
plays—aggressively. We have good on-court chemistry."

Since the two sisters, both listed at 5'11", have played together
their entire careers, they know each other's games very well.
Susan describes Patricia as a "very unselfish, tenacious" point
guard who is able to create shot opportunities for teammates and
is adept at getting to the basket.

Susan was recruited in large part due to her shooting ability from
the perimeter, which is one of her key strengths along with her
ability to drive to the basket. Still a first-year, Susan "needs to
become more vocal and step up and take the open shot" to
become a complete player, Patricia said.

However, Patricia also added that Susan is a more advanced
player than she was as a first-year and consequently may become
a starter in the near future.

That admission begs the question: which of the Kerns is the better
player? In a one-on-one matchup, both sisters said that Susan
would likely win.

"As more of an offensive-minded player who is more experienced
playing different positions, I might have kind of an advantage with a
one-on-one game," Susan joked.

Yet the sisters dismiss any semblance of a sibling rivalry.

"We just work together," Susan said. "Our main goal is to make
Columbia as good as we can."

And as the likelihood that Jason Giambi will be leaving his brother
Jeremy in Oakland this baseball offseason increases, sports fans
can nonetheless be assured that Columbia's sibling duo will
definitely be teaming up for the next two seasons.