In her first season as a Pioneer, freshman guard Kailey Edwards has stepped up for the women’s basketball team as a starter and is currently third on the team in points and second in free throws.
“She deserves that starting role,” said head coach Kerry Cremeans. “She’s doing everything that I ask her to, from attacking the room offensively, to running the lanes on a fast break, to rebounding, to defending the best perimeter player.”
Edwards set a career-high record of 18 points in the team’s game against Utah State on Jan. 19. In her most recent games against Texas San Antonio and Texas State, Edwards added 11 points in each game. Her overall scoring average is 7.5 points per game with 168 points so far this season.
“So far it feels awesome; I’ve worked really hard on getting myself to play,” said Edwards. “It’s a blast to get out there and play with the team; they’re so much fun to be around. I’m enjoying it so far, so hopefully we keep winning.”
In the past few weeks, the team has come back from a four-game losing streak to gain three consecutive wins at home. Edwards contributed to those wins by racking up a total of 27 points and 14 rebounds over those three games.
“I ask a lot of her as a young little thing, and she never shows any fear with that,” said Cremeans. “She’s very competitive, and that’s all that I ask of her.”
According to Cremeans, the one thing that she asks of freshman players is that they play with no fear. She understands they are playing at a new level of Division I collegiate play and said she ultimately feels a fearless attitude is most essential to them.
“There’s always going to be pressure when you’re the new ones on the team,” said Edwards. “Since this is a new staff, they didn’t really recruit us or know us yet, but they’ve been so helpful and they’ve really worked hard on getting to know us as players and as people.”
Before committing to Denver for its academics and the basketball team, Edwards was a guard at Legacy High School for four years, where she was named MVP of the 5A state championship. Two weeks ago, she was also one of four Pioneers named a 2013 Sportswoman of Colorado. The award honors her performance from high school.
“She’s continued to grow and improve and really helped with the depth of the team, which we need in the long run,” said Cremeans.
Edwards said she’s looking forward to her next three years here, but right now she just wants to focus on the current season. Outside of basketball, Edwards is majoring in International Studies and is hoping to become a sports agent one day.
“Right now, I just want to get out there and keep doing it for the older girls and for our senior Emmy [Emiko Smith],” said Edwards. “I’m also looking forward to just staying tough for the rest of the season and the WAC tournament.”
