Her first season of playing NCAA Division I college basketball has taught Sasha Weber a thing or two about adjustments. Specifically, about acclimating to the physical style and exhaustion that accompany D-I hoops.
“If I’m not in class or on the court,” Weber said, “I’m usually asleep.”
Weber, a 2012 Timberline High School graduate who left as the school’s career scoring leader with 1,503 career points, is a starting guard at New Mexico State, and her average of 8.8 points a game in 21 games (18 starts) ranks in the top 10 for all freshmen in the Western Athletic Conference. It’s the fourth-best average on the team. She’s also third highest in minutes played (27.8) and second in field-goal percentage (37 percent).
This week is a big one for Weber. Not only does she turn 19 on Saturday, but it’s also her first return home when the Aggies (9-11 overall, 3-7 WAC) travel to Seattle to face second-place Seattle University (11-9, 8-3) at 4 p.m. at the Connolly Center. It’s a game expected to be witnessed by family and friends, including her former Timberline teammates.
“I’m pretty excited,” Weber said last week from the Las Cruces, N.M., campus. “I haven’t been home in a while.”
Seven months, to be exact.
Second-year New Mexico State coach Mark Trakh, who coached at USC from 2004-09, has taken advantage of Weber’s versatility and rotated her between point guard, shooting guard and wing, depending on matchups.
The level of basketball is a significant step up from her days playing with the Blazers, Weber says, but physically it’s extremely demanding.
“It’s hard to push my body when my body doesn’t want to keep going,” she said. “I didn’t know I could be this exhausted and keep going.”
The Aggies, who started with a 3-1 record in conference play, haven’t won since a 61-58 victory at Texas State on Jan. 5. That’s a string of eight losses going into Saturday’s game against the Redhawks.
“We’ll turn it around,” Weber said. “We haven’t reached our potential yet, and we have a lot of room to grown. Hopefully, the second half of conference play, we’ll get able to start getting wins.”
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473 mwochnick@theolympian.com
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