Harden earns postseason, preseason honors

Typically, veterans outshine rookies in the sports industry. Their knowledge and overall experience helps them stand out during games. In the college setting, most freshmen and sophomores see minimum playing time until their talents and skills develop and form to the team’s needs.

Women’s basketball junior guard Alex Harden displayed great talents and contributed outstanding statistics in her sophomore 2012-13 season. Averaging 11.7 points per game, Harden helped the Lady Shockers to the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Championship and earned the tournament MVP title.

For her defensive performance throughout last season, Harden earned the MVC Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the All-MVC First Team and MVC All-Defensive Team.

“She is stronger than most kids on the floor,” women’s basketball head coach Jody Adams said. “Her ability to get off the ground and move from side-to-side, we are really happy she is in black and yellow.”

Through all of Harden’s successes, she remains humble to her teammates and credits them for the achievements she has obtained.

“You have to give thanks to God for giving me the opportunity to play at the college level, especially the D1 level,” Harden said. “Honestly, I respect everything that the upperclassmen did when I was a freshman. They pushed me harder than I ever thought I would let somebody.”

Adams attributes Harden’s coachability to her Shocker career success.

“Alex is a very humble and selfless player which makes her special,” Adams said. “Secondly, you see the God [-given] gifts of speed and athleticism, and you combine that with high IQ and understanding of the game, and you have a pretty unbelievable player and someone special in the making.”

During games, Harden can be seen leading the team in statistics, but she also helps the team remain organized through play calls and changes in defensive settings.

“She studied the game and spent time making changes to her game,” Adams said. “That’s coachability.”

In black and white, Harden is noted as a phenomenal player, but the awards are in the past, and she is focused on this season.

“It just makes us want to work harder,” Harden said. “Awards are just awards, but at the end of the day, if we don’t win the NCAA tournament, those awards don’t mean anything.”