By Nick Eatman
She might currently have the look of someone on the wrong end of
a fight, but West Texas A&M junior Joni Unruh has certainly won
her fair share of battles this season.
So don't expect a shiner on her
left eye, which she suffered in the quarterfinal round here in
Bartlesville, to slow down Unruh as she prepares to lead her Lady
Buffs to Sunday's LSC Championship against Northeastern State in a
battle of No. 1 seeds.
Unruh, who played a secondary
role to former West Texas players such as Emily Brister and
Courtney Lee during her first two seasons, has now fully accepted
the leadership role for this year's squad. Not only that, but the
entire conference took notice as well, naming Unruh the LSC South
Player of the Year.
But don't mistake Unruh. While
she's very appreciative of the award, she considers her a defensive
player who can also score, instead of a scorer who can play a
little defense.
"I love playing defense," Unruh
said. "When I came to WT, that was one of the strongest things I
had. I really wasn't a great scorer and I didn't have to,
especially with Emily and Courtney. I've always played good defense
and let it transition to my offense."
Unruh raised her scoring average
from 7.1 points as a freshman to 9.3 last year, but increased it to
13.6 this year, good for 13th in the conference. But
more than just scoring, Unruh does the dirty work. She led the LSC
in steals with 84 and added six more against Central Oklahoma in
the LSC semifinals.
West Texas head coach Krista
Gerlich said she noticed Unruh's defense back in high school,
although her initial impression of her current star player wasn't
so favorable.
"Actually when I first starting
recruiting her, she just got out of volleyball and I just thought
she was just Ok," Gerlich said. "But I kept watching her and
watching her. The longer she played basketball I saw she was
getting into shape and she was guarding Division I players. So I
knew I had to have her."
Unruh said she has benefited from
taking a backseat role early in her career and learning the ropes
from players such as Lee and Brister. And when it was time to
become vocal leaders, Unruh said he was already prepared for it.
"I came in as a freshman, I was
under Emily and Courtney, and they were such great people to me.
Emily took me under her wing and really showed me what a great
program we had and really what it took to win," Unruh said. "The
next two years I watched everything she did and listened to what
they had to say. This year, I felt like me and Holly Isaacs would
take over that leadership role and this year would be a special
year for us. With a lot of new players on this team, I felt like I
had to take what they gave to me and pass it on to them to keep the
tradition of winning and defense for WT."
While she's all about the team
concept, Unruh was definitely appreciative of the Player of the
Year award, especially considering it's the fifth straight for the
Lady Buffs after Brister won four consecutive. But Unruh also knows
to keep it in perspective.
"Definitely, it's always a huge
personal compliment. But you can't do any of that without your
teammates," Unruh said. "I've had wonderful teammates who have
pushed me to be the best. Coach Gerlich has always told me I could
be the best in the conference if I kept believing in myself."
Maybe a boost in confidence was
needed for Unruh, but never toughness. She put that on display
Saturday when she not only played with the black eye, but took
another elbow to the same eye. Still, Unruh's motor never stopped
or slowed down.
"You can't worry about getting
hurt. Someone is going to get hurt every game," Unruh said. "I had
a feeling I would get hit again, because that's just how the game
goes. You can't lose intensity because of a little pop to the eye.
There are worse things that can happen to me."
But it's that type of attitude
that Gerlich said makes Unruh such a special player to coach.
"She's just a fighter. She's got
the heart of a lion," Gerlich said. "Joni was in my first
recruiting class and because of that, we have a great relationship.
And I know that she would run through a wall for me."
And definitely an elbow . . . or
two.