After two seasons serving as the second or third option for a competitive Lady Crusaders squad, Columbia Academy alum Lauren Rowley has taken her game to another level as a junior, morphing into William Carey’s leading scorer and a marksman from deep as she and her teammates hunt for a conference title.
Rowley, who graduated from CA in 2019, has been a significant contributor on the Lady Crusaders' roster for quite some time, having played more than 30 minutes per game through each of the last three seasons. This time around, however, Rowley has enjoyed newfound success, particularly on the offensive end of the floor, averaging 15.4 points per game to go with 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
A large part of Rowley's success has come from behind the arc, where she's made a rather impressive 39% of her attempts on the season. Her deep-range shooting skills were on full display in her two best performances to date Nov. 12 against Louisiana Christian and Dec. 17 against Arizona Christian. In both games, she finished with a career-best 28 points, and in both games she made a staggering six shots from the perimeter to lead her team in victory.
Rowley said several factors have played into her success over the past few months, crediting the extra time she's put into sharpening her shooting skills and the trust she's earned from her teammates and coaches to come up clutch in big moments. Whereas most of her high school career was filled with mid-range shots for the Lady Cougars, she's now become a prolific long-range shooter with the ability to change the momentum of games with any given shot.
"Over the offseason, I focused more on in-game type shooting," Rowley recalled, "but I would say the increased scoring is just from being more comfortable on the court this year and having more confidence in myself.
"I also think the experience from playing with the same girls all my years has a lot to do with it as well. We all trust each other and play well together. My teammates have done a great job getting me the ball in areas I can score. Coach (Tracy) English also has a lot of confidence in me, which really makes it easy to just go out on the court and play basketball."
But in any team sport, Rowley acknowledges, individual success is only one piece in the overall puzzle. She's more proud of the success she and her teammates have enjoyed as a unit, which has led them to a 13-7 overall record and 7-6 mark against conference opponents. With only six games remaining in their regular-season campaign, Rowley said chemistry and familiarity with one another have been key factors in what they've accomplished so far and will continue to be imperative to any success they enjoy moving forward.
"As a team, we all have the same goal, which is to go out and win," Rowley said. "Most of the team has been playing together for four years, so the experience really helps, and the new girls have come in and fit right into the program.
"I believe the biggest contributing factor to our success so far is playing unselfish basketball. When we do a good job of moving the ball on offense and finding the right people to take the right shot, as well as playing as a unit on defense, we are one of the best teams in the conference. In my opinion, when we play that type of basketball we have the ability to beat anyone we play."
Unwilling to get complacent with where they currently stand, Rowley said the Lady Crusaders have much bigger goals than simply finishing fourth in the conference standings. They want to reach the top of the list, and with six more opportunities to climb up the standings before the conference tournament arrives, they believe that goal is more than achievable.
"Coach English always tells us to do the things we are used to doing and not to do things we don’t normally do. In order for us to have success the rest of the season and to reach our goals of being conference champions, we will need to do exactly that," Rowley said. "We need to continue playing unselfish basketball, finding our shooters in their spots, making the correct decisions and playing together defensively.
"We have all the pieces on our team to be the best, so it’s just time to start using that to our advantage to win."
Rowley and the Lady Crusaders will be back in action Thursday when they host a conference game against Blue Mountain College, followed by another conference home game Feb. 7 against the University of Mobile.
