Winthrop women’s basketball has picked up their play as of late. Starting with a win against Presbyterian on January 28, Winthrop ran off a tally of five wins in their next six games.
Their only loss during this span was a six point loss to UNC Asheville. Additionally, the game after this streak ended, Winthrop’s leading scorer Paige Powell dominated the conference champion Gardner-Webb Bulldogs. She finished the game with 24 points and 13 rebounds, leading both teams in both categories.
Including the Gardner-Webb game, Powell led the Eagles in scoring four times in seven outings. When asked about her recent uptick in performance, she explained the factors that have led to her strong recent play.
“Just being free out on the court and letting my defense lead to my offense, instead of the other way around. I feel like I bring energy. When I’m giving it my all and playing hard they feed off of me and reciprocate the energy.”
Sophomore guard Leonor Paisana’s play has also shown improvement over this streak, culminating in a career high 21 points and six threes against USC Upstate on February 12. She cites both her individual commitment and her team’s for this newfound production.
“I’ve been more confident in my game (recently). I’ve been putting in extra work. And since the team is playing better together it’s also creating more opportunities for me.”
It hasn’t just just been her putting in the work either. Powell’s play has come as no surprise to Paisana.
“Paige is an amazing player. She brings aggressiveness to the team. I’ve seen her putting in extra work (too) and it’s paying off.”
She also believes there was no secret recipe for WU women’s basketball’s recent success, rather that things just began to click.
I wouldn’t say something changed,” she said. “I think we finally started playing better together. Like we finally connected and started having chemistry on the court.”
Powell likewise agrees that they’ve “…always had the potential and ability.” She identified a different aspect of the team to explain their wins as of late.
“What’s changed is our mentality. We just had to connect our minds with it (the team’s potential and ability).”
One of the highlights of the streak was Powell’s nine steal game against Radford on February 4. Nine steals is the second most for a single game in Big South history, and is just a part of the reason her strong play earned her conference player of the week honors.
“Everyone on our team is aggressive on defense and that’s one of the characteristics we have as a team,” Paisana said about how the Eagle’s defense helped Powell force so many turnovers.
“Paige knows how to play post D and in that game she was fired up. We loved to see it.”
Powell, a graduate student, also talked about how her experience being in her fifth year of college basketball has helped her this season.
“I would say my ability to read in game situations and handle the pressure of the game,” she said.
Winthrop has two games left in the regular season against Campbell on February 22, and High Point on February 25, both on the road. In Powell’s opinion, the Eagles’ momentum should help them finish the season strong before the Big South conference tournament starts on March 1.
“(Winning) gives us confidence. It lets us know the work that we’ve been putting in is paying off. When we all have that confidence we’re able to challenge any team in this conference.”
