Carrie Nestor Bastow was arguably one of the best point guards to step on Behrend’s basketball court. She was the type of player every coach would want on their team. She exemplified leadership, athleticism and what a true student-athlete should be.
Her freshman year, Nestor set the school mark with 136 assist but as we all know, records were meant to be broken and she did just that. Three times as a matter of fact for assists in a season, again her junior and senior year. There was no sophomore slump for Nestor. A three-time All-AMCC Second-Team choice, she earned her first conference accolades in 1997-98. She helped the Lions finish 19-9 and earn a bid to the ECAC Tournament.
As the success of Behrend basketball program grew, Nestor gained more notoriety. In 1998-99, she led the Lions to their first-ever AMCC Championship and was tabbed all-conference once again. Respected and admired by her teammates, they voted her captain, MVP and Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
The selfless player went through the turns for another banner season in 1999-2000. She ranked as high as fourth in NCAA Division III statistics for assists per game with 6.1. For a second straight year, the senior captain was named team MVP and Most Outstanding Defensive Player, while being named second-team all-conference.
At the end of her four years on the court, Nestor had started every game and finished the all-time leader in steals (296) and assists (548) for both the men and women. She also ranked second in free-throws (275), seventh in three-pointers (52), and eighth in free-throw percentage (.703).