Women’s basketball: Wood looks to have successful freshman season

By Katie Faulkner @kfaulkner20

For freshman Erin Wood, individual accolades haven’t been hard to come by in the world of basketball. The four-year high school varsity letter winner was a standout player in her home state of Indiana, where she was selected to the Indiana Class Basketball All-Star Games. She also earned All-Hoosier Crossroads Conference honors as a junior and led her team to the Class 4A sectional championship as a senior.

Wood, a six-foot-two forward, spent her summer in the gym and worked under the guidance of senior Katie Healy.

“Over the summer I really worked on my post moves and learning how to face up,” said Wood. “I’ve been going against Katie everyday in practice and she’s amazing, so it’s really helped me.”

For any freshman athlete, the transition from high school to college sports is anything but easy, as it includes a new level of physicality, as well as mental toughness.

“The transition is you have to go 110 percent every time in college,” said the Noblesville, Ind. native. “In high school you could take plays off, but here everyone is good and always does their best.”

A true competitor creates new goals at higher levels and knows what they must do in order to help the team excel. Averaging five points and 5.8 rebounds per game as a senior compared to her 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds as a junior shows her ability to contribute in different ways on the floor. She’s not interested in stuffing the stat sheets, but she cares about doing the intangible dirty work that goes unseen in order to help her team win.

“I think my role this year will be to help get my other teammates ready,” said Wood. “If I get playing time I just want to have positive minutes and not turn the ball over.”

Fully equipped with a team-first mentality, optimistic attitude and an unceasing grin, Wood is sure to have a successful freshman season no matter what her role is.