Edwards inspires Bonnies
Senior has adapted to defensive role
Go ahead and tell Ashley Edwards she doesn’t play good defense.
Tell her that she’s undersized and that those 6-foot-3 forwards from South Florida will dominate her in the low post.
Tell her that the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team has no chance against the Big East team in today’s WNIT quarterfinal (1450 AM, 95.7 FM).
Go ahead. She’s heard it all before. And challenges like that? She eats them for breakfast. The 5-11 senior forward has embraced her role on this Bona team—one that revolves around rebounding and defense and a ton of intangibles that never show up in the box score.
In fact, take a look at the season box score and her numbers will underwhelm you.
But there is little doubt among the Bonnies that they would not be at this historic moment if it weren’t for Ashley Edwards.
“It’s the things she brings every day in practice,” Bona coach Jim Crowley said. “If we have someone struggling, Ashley is right there talking to them. Her personality can brighten up the team but also she can toughen us up. At the start of the second half [in the Wisconsin win on Thursday] she sent a message that we needed to go at them. And the other kids responded to her making great plays. It was pure joy that her teammates had for her success because she’s been there for them.
“That’s the kind of kid and leader she is. Of course she wants to play more. Who doesn’t? But she’s one of those kids who is more interested in our success as a team rather than individual stuff. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
For the season, Edwards is averaging
2.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 13.6 minutes a game.
It’s a different line that she’s had during her time at Bona, where he role has changed.
But her teammates feed off her toughness, her intensity and her commitment to defense.
Take that Wisconsin win where the Bonnies found themselves trailing by 14 points at halftime.
Edwards set the defensive tone to start the second half, finishing with nine rebounds, six points, two blocks and two steals.
“At halftime, Coach talked to me and said that we need you to rebound and play defense and I took that as a personal challenge. I challenged myself,” Edwards said. “Then [senior guard] Tiara Johnson came up to me and said ‘I need you to have five stops and five rebounds this half.’ When she and Coach both said that, I took it as personal challenge for myself. My teammates needed me to have a good game in the post and every media time out I looked at Tiara Johnson and asked how many stops. I just kept trying to get those stops and hopefully help us get back in the game.”
There have been plenty of challenges for Edwards in her Bona career.
Her freshman year, when the team won just nine games, she started 27 games and averaged 27 minutes. As a sophomore, she averaged 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds — her best statistical year. Her junior year saw a dip in production as she missed 11 games with various injuries while this year her numbers are rather easy to gloss over.
That, however, did not mean her value to her team decreased. In many ways, she actually became more valuable to the Bonnies.
“This is college and you have to expect change,” Edwards said. “It’s not the change that affects you but how you react to it. At first it was difficult for me because in high school I would score and shoot the ball and do whatever I wanted. But scoring isn’t everything. Coach did a good job telling me that rebounding and defense was what I was great at and that I was the only person on the team willing to do it.
“I took it as a personal challenge. I like to prove people wrong. They say I can’t play defense or I’m undersized. I don’t care how tall [the opponent is] or how short I am. I take it personally when they say someone’s 6-4 and they should go right at me. I really, really want to get that stop and help my team as much as possible.”
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