After leading WSU in scoring last year, Asia Strong is determined to have success going into this season. Strong is also hoping to improve on her stats from a year ago. 

Strong earned second team all-conference honors after averaging 15.2 points and 6.6 rebounds a game. She also scored 10 or more points in all but two games last season, while shooting 42.4% from the field. Strong also became the  first Shocker to earn preseason first team all-conference honors since WSU joined the AAC.

“I definitely felt like I was very consistent, coming from my first year, being able to stay consistent throughout the whole season,” Strong said. “I was very proud of this, but this year is totally different. We got a new team.” 

Strong said that she was working on herself as a player, with new developmental skills in the forefront of her mind. 

“I have been working on more in the post, trying to get touches in the post and get a bucket at a crunch time, also working on my three point shot…free throws and trying to get to the line by being more aggressive,” she said.

Strong came to WSU after playing two seasons at Trinity Valley Community College. Strong said a big reason she decided to come to WSU was because of the coaching staff. 

“I love them…their recruiting process for me, they were always calling me, always checking up on me,” Strong said. “It wasn’t even about basketball, it was about personal life and lifestyle, am I doing stuff off the court–in the classroom or even my hobbies and who I am as a person.” 

She has been really looking forward to the matchup against Temple, as they almost got a win last year playing in Philadelphia.  In the second matchup in Wichita, itwas a highly contested battle that ended in the Shockers being 0-2 on the season against Temple. 

“In my first season here, coming from Juco, I learned how to adjust, getting the experience…but now that I have a year under my belt I have a better feel for the conference.” 

Strong, said she has enjoyed encouraging her teammates to strive for more. 

“If they miss shots, even 100 shots in a row, I let them know to keep shooting and lift them up and keep motivating them,” Strong said. “I love my teammates, I feel like we have great chemistry, all the newcomers are tight. We are excited for the season because we were so close to the March Madness tournament, and we played South Florida and lost by four points. It really is a chip on our shoulders, we gotta get there, we gotta get that.” 

Strong said that fans should be excited for this upcoming season.

“They should look out for us, being there for each other, and motivating each other,” Strong said. “You can’t win every game so just knowing as a team we are going to be mentally strong and bounce back. We are never going to hang our heads low and give up. We never give up. 

“Last year we were hit by COVID-19 and we didn’t give up, we only had 7 players and we didn’t give up. Coach could have given up on us and she didn’t.”