Prior to arriving at Wichita State, senior guard Ashley Reid had to overcome something major. Following two seasons at New Mexico Junior College, Reid suffered a torn ACL during her sophomore season and took longer to rehab than expected.

Last year was Reid’s first full season following the injury, and it took some adjusting to get back on the court post-injury.

 “Me and Brittany, our trainer, did a lot of stuff and know it’s more taking care of it and making sure it’s strong for this season,” Reid said. “I don’t have to wear my brace this year, so that’s a plus.”

 The injury also inhibited Reid’s jump shot. In her first season at WSU, she shot around 20% from beyond the three-point arc compared to 51% as a sophomore at the junior-college level.

 Reid spent the majority of the summer working on her jump shot so that she would be better prepared for the upcoming season.

 “It’s just the way I came off when I jumped off my leg,” she explained. “Since my injury, it’s been pretty hard to come off of it. My shot’s been off ever since then, so I practiced a lot this summer to make sure it was on.”

 As one of two seniors, Reid has adopted more of a leadership role with the team. Head Coach Keith Adams said she’s been encouraged by her performance so far.

“She was voted as one of our team captains, and I think that stemmed from her commitment and her work ethic,” Adams said of Reid. “I think when we signed her, we knew she had been a good leader at the junior college that she was at before, and I believe that this year, she will bring more of that leadership quality to our team that we recruited her for than she was able to last year. ”

 WSU graduated Cesaria Ambrosio and Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage, leaving a leadership vacuum. In their absence, Reid has taken it upon herself to step up as a leader and a scorer.

 “Sabrina and Ces were major leaders of our team, and they had a lot of playing time, so those were big chunks taken out of our team,” Reid said. “There’s just people that need to fill in their roles. Last year, a lot of us were new, so this year, we just had about two people leave. It’s more team chemistry and people that can fill in that role, and I feel like we’ll have leaders fill it in.”