After graduating from George Washington High School in Denver, Debra Gilbert enrolled at Adams State College (ASC) in the fall of 1978. She was a walk-on for Dr. Charleen Kahre's then-club sport of women's basketball. Gilbert and her ASC teammates learned some valuable lessons during that 1978-1979 season as they were only able to defeat many of the two-year schools such as Northwest Junior College, Otero Junior College and Trinidad Junior College, while losing seven straight games to four-year schools. Then, one night the ASC Indianettes (now Grizzlies) clobbered New Mexico Highlands, 80-39, and never looked back. Gilbert posted one of her many double-doubles (17 points and 18 rebounds) in that win, serving as a preview of what was to become of her ASC career.
The next year (1979-1980) ASC was coached by Dr. Jack Cotton and the team won 16 games and lost 8, finishing in second place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) West Division. Gilbert finished first in overall field goal percentage (.558) in the RMAC, second in scoring (22.3 ppg) and third in rebounding (12.7 rpg).
In 1980-1981, coached by Todd Cotton, the Indianettes finished 23-4, capturing the RMAC Championship (7-1 RMAC regular season) by defeating Southern Colorado, 93-78, in the league title tilt, as well as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) District VII crown by taking care of Eastern New Mexico, 95-76, in the semifinals and RMAC foe Western State, 73-69, in the
(Debra Gilbert continued)
championship game. During that season, Gilbert was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the University of Wyoming Holiday Tournament, posting a two-game total of 47 points and 30 rebounds as ASC lost to Wyoming by one point, 66-65, then beat Northern Colorado, 84-76. In a critical game with Southern Colorado, Gilbert shattered school records by scoring 44 points and grabbing 30 rebounds to lift ASC to a 112-88 win. ASC's season ended with a 94-64 loss to Xavier in Houston, Tex. on March 3rd, 1981, but not before Gilbert was named the NAIA District VII Most Valuable Player, earned a spot on the First Team All-RMAC, led the RMAC in rebounding (14.6 rpg) and finished second in scoring (21.1 ppg).
In her senior year (1981-1982), she led Adams State to a perfect RMAC West Division record (8-0) and a 21-4 record overall, including another RMAC crown. The Indianettes defeated Regis (75-61) in the league championship game and turned the trick again in the NAIA District VII Playoffs, defeating Regis (80-64) and Western State (96-68) en route to another district title. Gilbert and ASC were eventually nipped by Howard Payne (Tex.), 84-83, in the NAIA Bi-District Playoffs. However, her senior year was capped off by several awards and achievements as she was selected as the school’s first-ever NAIA Women's Basketball First Team All-American and was named First Team All-RMAC while ranking third in the nation in rebounding (15.6) and 12th in scoring (18.5 ppg) - both tops in the RMAC.
During Gilbert's illustrious collegiate career, she led ASC to a 44-8 record over her junior and senior seasons (60-16 last three years), while averaging more than 20 points per game and 15 rebounds per contest. The Indianettes achieved a national ranking as high as No. 4, while finishing at No. 9 in the 1981-1982 NAIA National Poll. Gilbert is still the school record holder in several categories, including 15.6 rebounds per game during the 1981-1982 season, single-game rebounds (30 in 80-81 season), career rebounds per game (15.1 rpg), career points per game (19.9 ppg) and career field goal percentage (.612).
She was the first women's basketball player in the state of Colorado to have her jersey retired when Adams State gave her that distinction on Feb. 8, 1992 and was also the first woman to be inducted into the ASC Hall of Fame. Gilbert was a number one draft choice of the Chicago Spirit of the Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) in 1984 and played for one-year before the league disbanded. She tried out for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury at the age of 37, 15 years after her collegiate career. Gilbert is a 1983 ASC graduate, and, in 1998 she earned a Master's Degree from the University of Phoenix. Gilbert retired in 2014 after 30 years in the Aurora Public Schools District.