Resilience.
The fight and toughness that graduate student guard Sophie Anderson has brought to the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Women’s Basketball team is one of the reasons why she has been so successful defensively this season.
Anderson rounds out the strong work ethic that she already has with the toughness and grit that she brings everytime she steps onto the court.
“She is mentally strong and having been fouled like she was against Metro [ State University- Denver] and not to retaliate, that takes somebody mentally tough enough to say okay we are going to get back on defense and we are going to play extremely hard. So she definitely carries that for us, the nitty gritty part for sure,” graduate student guard Daniella Turner said.
Being able to draw a tough assignment on defense is something that Anderson has done a lot of late. The pressure she puts on opposing players limits the opposing team’s best shooter to a limited number of points.
Anderson on Feb. 1 guarded Ashley Greenwood from the Westminster Griffins and held her to only nine points. Emmery Wagstaff was another victim in Anderson’s great defensive play when Western Colorado came to Brownson Arena on Jan. 29.
Her latest assignment was Ryan Weiss of South Dakota Mines, she was able to limit the guard to only six points.
The Paonia, Colo. native, has also been a great asset to the Mavericks as she leads the team in offensive rebounds and is second to graduate student Kelsey Siemons in defensive rebounds.
Being a strong defender and rebounder is a role that Anderson has seen herself in this season.
“The role that I see myself in this season is to be a strong defender and rebound the ball. It’s a role that I saw needed to be filled and I think it matches my playing style as well,” Anderson said.
As solid as Anderson has been on defense, she has definitely grown as an offensive player for CMU.
She was able to put up 18 points, a career high, against Colorado Christian University back on Jan. 15. She broke her career high again this season against South Dakota Mines on Feb.5 as she knocked down 19 points.
“She gets in and she puts the work in, the confidence that I have in her to take those shots and to see the confidence that she has in herself now to knock down those shots and just to trust that the shot that she takes is the shot she should be taking. She definitely the past few years has gotten better at shooting the ball, especially from the three. I always tell her, ‘Sophie, you’re open, shoot the ball. If I pass you the ball and you’re wide, shoot the ball, don’t hesitate’. Just quick thinking is all that it has to be when you get the ball in your hands. I mean she comes in and gets the shots that she takes in the game and she always goes hard,” Turner said.
Having Anderson put up a strong performance on offense has opened up another silent threat from the Mavericks when Turner and graduate student guard Mariah Martin are getting guarded.
“Just from the past weekend that we had having us two get defended so hard, we need our teammates to step up and not be afraid to take the shot when they are open and just know that because we are getting pressured, they are going to be able to score a lot more. Just being able to step up and help my team in this way and she definitely helps in that way,” Turner said.
Anderson and the rest of the CMU Women’s Basketball team will continue the rest of the regular season as they head to Alamosa, Colo. to take on Adams State University on Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m.
