Arkansas State, Morrill to visit Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team

Jane Morrill has been excited about today ever since she first took a look at the Arkansas State women's basketball schedule several months ago.

Morrill, a Notre Dame Regional High School graduate, will have a homecoming of sorts when the Red Wolves (2-2) visit Southeast Missouri State (0-6) for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

"I've been pumped since the beginning of the season, since the first time I saw SEMO was on the schedule," Morrill said.

Morrill will enter the Show Me Center on a roll. The 6-foot-1 sophomore forward is ASU's leading scorer with an average of 16.5 points per game, which ranks third in the Sun Belt Conference.

Morrill is shooting 44.2 percent from the field and a sizzling 94.7 percent from the free-throw line (18 of 19). She is second on the team in rebounding with a 4.5 average while also ranking second in steals with seven and blocks with two.

"It's a great feeling," said Morrill, who averaged 6.1 points and 3.0 rebounds off the bench a year ago as the Red Wolves went 18-14. "I'm loving our team chemistry."

Last year's freshman season contained plenty of highlights for Morrill. She scored a then-career-high 19 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with less than a second left to give ASU a 62-61 win at Florida International.

"Last year was a big help, getting some experience," said Morrill, an athletic training major who as a freshman earned the Red Wolves Excellence Award at the team's postseason banquet for displaying excellence in academics, community service and character.

Morrill already has had one monster performance this season, pouring in a career-high 31 points during the Red Wolves' second game, an 84-71 win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Nov. 20.

"It was surprising. The way our team flowed, I didn't even notice it," Morrill said. "The guards did an awesome job getting the ball to me. They did all the work and I got all the credit."

Morrill, who hit 13 of 24 from the field and added eight rebounds against Corpus Christi, scored 23 second-half points. She was named the Sun Belt Conference player of the week.

"Her second half against Corpus Christi was one of the most impressive halves of basketball I have seen by an individual while at Arkansas State," ASU coach Brian Boyer said. "Jane is still just scratching the surface of how good she can be, and with her strong work ethic she is going to continue to improve all season long."

Morrill was recruited by a variety of Division I programs after a standout high school career. She was a three-year starter at Notre Dame, a threat both inside with her size and athleticism and outside with her shooting touch and ball-handling ability.

Morrill averaged 13.3 points and 6.8 rebounds while blocking a school-record 65 shots as an all-state senior, helping lead Notre Dame to a Class 4 runner-up finish.

She said she considered attending Southeast before signing with ASU.

"I had thought about it but I wanted to go away, somewhere not too far," said Morrill, the 2010 Southeast Missourian player of the year who finished as Notre Dame's No. 6 career scorer and No. 1 shot-blocker. "I really like it here [at ASU]."

Morrill is looking forward to playing against one of her good friends today, former Notre Dame teammate Allyson Bradshaw, a freshman reserve guard for Southeast.

"We've been close. I'm excited about that," said Morrill, who also was the starting shortstop and No. 3 hitter on a state championship Notre Dame softball squad.

While Morrill has plenty of family and friends at ASU home games -- Jonesboro, Ark., is less than a three-hour drive from her home in Scott City -- she should have an even larger rooting section today.

"My family comes to all the home games and they basically bring as many people as they can," Morrill said. "My mom and dad told me everyone they talked to said they're coming [today]. I feel it will be as much a home game for us as SEMO."