No one else in the country has a versatile player like Evina coming off the bench to score, run the offense, stabilize the team, steal, rebound, and play great defense. In a very real sense, it is almost as though she has been pacing herself all season, making sure she was there for the team, holding it all together, coming off the bench, making everyone better with her passing and floor directions and playing solid defense. There were times she was disappointing, times she was exhilarating, but always you had a sense that there was a lot more than what we were seeing. She had a great amount of pressure on her this year through all the injuries, sickness, 6 man rotations, and a personal loss as well.
But that was then and this is now. This is her time, senior time. We said all along that it would be a two year turnaround for her to be fully back or at least almost fully back from her injuries and there was a palpable reticence to shoot, to drive, and even to pull up during the season this year at times. Then there was the regular season game against Marquette with 17 points, 5 boards and 3 steals in 21 minutes followed by a game in which she didn't shoot once. We were scratching our heads.
The Marquette game was different though not just for her stats. There was a new fifth gear to her and it continued in both the semis and finals of the BET. She was the leading scorer in both games off the bench, tied for most assists combined in those two games and played a combined total of 17 minutes less than CW and 22 minutes less than AE in those two games. More importantly, the afterburners got turned on. Her drives, coast to coast or in half court, were faster, sharper, and with a nose for the basket. Her pull ups were clean, almost fully vertical, and her defense was energetic and her switches were quick and exact.
When she comes in the game, there is an instant stability. She sets the offense, finds the open man, and makes everyone move. And now, it's something more. A confident scorer who drove, posted up, pulled up and shot the 3 against Nova all the while looking to make that great pass. Yes, she is a factor, not just a player, but a game changer. It's her time finally to show both her leadership and her talent and she knows it. She will be on the floor at the end of every game from here on in just as she was against Nova, doing her job, and playing the best college basketball of her career at exactly the right time for her team. Maybe, just maybe, she really was pacing herself, waiting for when it matters most, becoming the factor that finishes that unfinished business.
But that was then and this is now. This is her time, senior time. We said all along that it would be a two year turnaround for her to be fully back or at least almost fully back from her injuries and there was a palpable reticence to shoot, to drive, and even to pull up during the season this year at times. Then there was the regular season game against Marquette with 17 points, 5 boards and 3 steals in 21 minutes followed by a game in which she didn't shoot once. We were scratching our heads.
The Marquette game was different though not just for her stats. There was a new fifth gear to her and it continued in both the semis and finals of the BET. She was the leading scorer in both games off the bench, tied for most assists combined in those two games and played a combined total of 17 minutes less than CW and 22 minutes less than AE in those two games. More importantly, the afterburners got turned on. Her drives, coast to coast or in half court, were faster, sharper, and with a nose for the basket. Her pull ups were clean, almost fully vertical, and her defense was energetic and her switches were quick and exact.
When she comes in the game, there is an instant stability. She sets the offense, finds the open man, and makes everyone move. And now, it's something more. A confident scorer who drove, posted up, pulled up and shot the 3 against Nova all the while looking to make that great pass. Yes, she is a factor, not just a player, but a game changer. It's her time finally to show both her leadership and her talent and she knows it. She will be on the floor at the end of every game from here on in just as she was against Nova, doing her job, and playing the best college basketball of her career at exactly the right time for her team. Maybe, just maybe, she really was pacing herself, waiting for when it matters most, becoming the factor that finishes that unfinished business.
