bluesooner17
Member
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2010
- Messages
- 863
- Reaction score
- 3
NORMAN — Shaina Pellington is preparing for Bedlam like she would any other game this season.
And why wouldn’t she?
The freshman guard from Ontario, Canada, has been on a tear recently, earning the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honor after a 23-point performance against Iowa State on Dec. 31.
She followed that big night up with a 20-point performance in a win against TCU on Thursday night.
“I’m just going into the game with the same mindset I normally do,” she said after OU’s 84-71 win against TCU. “Going there, playing, it’s all I can really do. It’s all we really can do. Just make sure I’m prepared mentally, physically. That’s pretty much it.”
Her veteran teammates sitting beside her, Maddie Manning and Vionise Pierre-Louis, exchanged looks. And when they all walked off the dais together following the post-game press conference, coach Sherri Coale laughed.
“Nope, no idea,” she said, shaking her head.
It’s true that the Canadian point guard has never experienced the OUOklahoma State rivalry before, but she’s not as unprepared as most outof-state rookies.
Building on her experience from playing with Canada’s U19 World Team, Pellington got an early dose of high-stakes basketball during the summer leading up to her freshman season.
It was an experience that helped her grow her game and learn more about herself as a player.
“I feel like I have a lot of tools in my kit right now,” she said in October.
“I always look forward to going international simply becase of that because I get exposed to different things that I can add to my game.”
Because of her involvement with the U19 team, Pellington arrived on campus later than all of the other players, and was tasked with catching up with the rest of her team when she finally arrived.
There was a lot to adjust to in a short amount of time.
Not only was she starting a collegiate career, she was also moving thousands of miles away from home in a different country.
It took a couple weeks to adapt to her new set of circumstances, but by the time OU started scrimmaging in the preseason, she felt right at home.
“When we started playing live games, I was a little more comfortable in terms of I can play now and do what I can do,” she said.
“I know with the speed that I have, I can go up and down the floor pretty quickly, so I mean when I was put in a situation where I could explore that and use that, I feel like I excelled in that area.
“I feel like that’s where I started to click in, like ok, I’ve got this now.”
When the season started, Pellington was coming off the bench. But over the last few weeks, she’s worked her way into the starting lineup.
Though she’s excelling with 13.4 points per game and an innate ability to get to the rim, Pellington still has plenty of room to grow, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
“If I can make a list of a whole bunch of things she’s got to get better at, and I can look down at the stat sheet and see that she scored 20 and only had two turnovers, that’s something pretty special,” Coale said.
“We all have to remember she’s a freshman playing her first year of college basketball in one of the toughest conferences in the country, and she’s putting up crazy numbers. So she’s learning.”
And why wouldn’t she?
The freshman guard from Ontario, Canada, has been on a tear recently, earning the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honor after a 23-point performance against Iowa State on Dec. 31.
She followed that big night up with a 20-point performance in a win against TCU on Thursday night.
“I’m just going into the game with the same mindset I normally do,” she said after OU’s 84-71 win against TCU. “Going there, playing, it’s all I can really do. It’s all we really can do. Just make sure I’m prepared mentally, physically. That’s pretty much it.”
Her veteran teammates sitting beside her, Maddie Manning and Vionise Pierre-Louis, exchanged looks. And when they all walked off the dais together following the post-game press conference, coach Sherri Coale laughed.
“Nope, no idea,” she said, shaking her head.
It’s true that the Canadian point guard has never experienced the OUOklahoma State rivalry before, but she’s not as unprepared as most outof-state rookies.
Building on her experience from playing with Canada’s U19 World Team, Pellington got an early dose of high-stakes basketball during the summer leading up to her freshman season.
It was an experience that helped her grow her game and learn more about herself as a player.
“I feel like I have a lot of tools in my kit right now,” she said in October.
“I always look forward to going international simply becase of that because I get exposed to different things that I can add to my game.”
Because of her involvement with the U19 team, Pellington arrived on campus later than all of the other players, and was tasked with catching up with the rest of her team when she finally arrived.
There was a lot to adjust to in a short amount of time.
Not only was she starting a collegiate career, she was also moving thousands of miles away from home in a different country.
It took a couple weeks to adapt to her new set of circumstances, but by the time OU started scrimmaging in the preseason, she felt right at home.
“When we started playing live games, I was a little more comfortable in terms of I can play now and do what I can do,” she said.
“I know with the speed that I have, I can go up and down the floor pretty quickly, so I mean when I was put in a situation where I could explore that and use that, I feel like I excelled in that area.
“I feel like that’s where I started to click in, like ok, I’ve got this now.”
When the season started, Pellington was coming off the bench. But over the last few weeks, she’s worked her way into the starting lineup.
Though she’s excelling with 13.4 points per game and an innate ability to get to the rim, Pellington still has plenty of room to grow, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
“If I can make a list of a whole bunch of things she’s got to get better at, and I can look down at the stat sheet and see that she scored 20 and only had two turnovers, that’s something pretty special,” Coale said.
“We all have to remember she’s a freshman playing her first year of college basketball in one of the toughest conferences in the country, and she’s putting up crazy numbers. So she’s learning.”