Sophomore Beck ready to assume leadership role with Southeast women's basketball team

~ The Redhawks will lean on their second-year point guard

Bianca Beck was among the most inexperienced players on a Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team filled with experience at this time last year.

Although only a sophomore, Beck now ranks among the Redhawks' more battle-tested performers and their floor leader at point guard.

Beck will be looked upon to help steady an extremely young Southeast squad both on and off the court this season. She believes she's ready for the role.

"I definitely feel like I'm going to be one of the leaders," Beck said Wednesday during the Redhawks' media day. "I was mentored by Tarina [Nixon] last year. ... I have that experience and I can pass it on to the freshmen this year."

Fourth-year coach John Ishee's 13-player roster features nine freshmen and plenty of question marks after the Redhawks graduated career 1,000-point scorers Nixon and Sonya Daugherty, among others.

"It's both exciting and nervous," Beck said of having such a young team. "They're like sponges willing to learn, but at the same time, being so young, we'll make mistakes.

"It will depend on how well they learn."

Beck learned quite well during her rookie collegiate campaign, and Ishee expects her to continue making major strides.

"I thought Bianca had a great freshman year, and I think she's improved a lot," Ishee said. "No. 1, Bianca has a natural passion that is inside her. We thought she was a perfect fit for a point guard in our program."

The 5-foot-7 Beck, who played at perennial state power Incarnate Word Academy in suburban St. Louis, compiled unremarkable but solid statistics for the Redhawks last year.

Beck, who played in all 30 games and made 14 starts, became the first true freshman to start at point guard in a season opener in program history.

Beck's presence in the opening-game lineup last year was due to an injury that forced Nixon to come off the bench for limited minutes, but Beck's play earned her more starts not only when Nixon was ailing but also alongside Nixon at times.

Playing the sixth-most minutes on the squad -- an average of 19.3 per contest -- Beck averaged 2.8 points and had a respectable assist-to-turnover ratio after recording 45 assists against 47 turnovers.

"I'm content with my freshman year," Beck said. "I wish I could have done better, but I played as hard as I could.

"It was a good experience, and it gives me a lot of preparation. I know what to expect. I know what to tell these freshmen what to expect."

Beck said she made a special point to improve on several aspects of her game in the offseason, including shooting and conditioning. Beck shot just 32 percent from the field overall, although she ranked second on the squad in 3-point accuracy at 34.5 percent (10 of 29).

"I definitely want to improve on my shooting," Beck said. "I'm looking to score more. Last year I was more passive, penetrating, trying to distribute. I worked hard on my shot this summer.

"I also worked hard on my conditioning. I know I'll be playing a lot more minutes. I'm ready for it."

For the first time in a long time, not much is expected from the Redhawks outside their own camp as they were picked to finish seventh in the 10-team Ohio Valley Conference.

That's largely because Southeast lost its top scorers and welcomed back just four players from last year's squad that went 15-15, including a fifth-place 10-8 in OVC play, and failed to reach the conference tournament semifinals for the first time in seven years. That came after consecutive OVC championships.

"We're going to need leadership not only from Bianca, but our other three returning players," Ishee said of senior center Lesley Adams, junior wing Lauren Sharpe and sophomore forward Amber Holmes. "We're going to go as those four go."

Beck said she understands why the Redhawks are regarded so lightly but believes they can use that to their advantage.

"We can definitely be a winning team," Beck said. "We are more athletic than we were last year. We can do more things than we could last year. Everybody's going to underestimate us. We're going to surprise a lot of people."