Nesbitt grows in Game Time League
When Cullen Painting/Goodfellow Printing seized the Game Time League championship Wednesday, it wasn't because one of the league's "usual suspects" — not because of Jaime Printy, or Kachine Alexander, or Kamille Wahlin.
Instead, Cullen/Goodfellow owed a great deal of its victory — and its entire championship run — to Trisha Nesbitt.
Nesbitt scored a season-high 20 points in Cullen/Goodfellow's 70-61 win over Active Endeavors/McCurry's. The Iowa sophomore guard finished the Game Time season ranked second in assists per game (5.8), and her 46 percent 3-point shooting was the 13th-best mark in the league.
The Game Time accolades are a return to form for Nesbitt, who was a three-time all-conference selection at Ames High but struggled in her first season as a Hawkeye. Although she appeared in each of Iowa's 34 games last year as a backup to point guard Kamille Wahlin, Nesbitt averaged 2.5 points per game on just 30 percent shooting. She was also uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball, finishing with a 1.02 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Playing in the summer league seems to have helped Nesbitt's confidence, and she said she became more relaxed as the season went on.
"[Game Time] was definitely a time to work on things," she said. "I'm more confident in my playing, and I'm not as unsure of myself."
This confidence helped translate to a league-best 7-1 regular-season record for Cullen/Goodfellow. Nesbitt was one of five Cullen/Goodfellow players to average double digits in scoring, and she was a defensive spark plug for a team that gave up just 67.9 points a game.
Fellow Hawkeye Morgan Johnson, who played against Nesbitt in the Game Time championship, said she was impressed with how dangerous the Ames native has become on both sides of the ball.
"She's such a good outside shooter, and she was driving well," Johnson said. "We couldn't play against the jump shot, and we couldn't play the drive — there isn't really a plan of attack, we just have to play good, solid defense.
"She's really stepped up. She's not just a player anymore, she's a leader."
Nesbitt said she was surprised to learn she barely missed being among the Game Time League's top 20 scorers, reaffirming coach Randy Larson's observation that she "doesn't care about her own [stats]."
She averaged 11.6 points per game and said she made a conscious effort to shoot on a more consistent basis.
"I tend to pass up a lot of shots, but I won't pass them up as often during the year," Nesbitt said. "It makes me easy to guard — I don't want to be easy to guard."
She proved impossible to stop in the Game Time championship, particularly in the second half, in which she scored 16 points. Larson raved about her performance, saying Nesbitt's presence allowed the rest of the team to stay relaxed.
"She's so unselfish and so smart — she makes everyone around her better," Larson said. "I thought Trisha made everyone not panic on offense, because they always knew she would get it done. Whenever we couldn't find anything, she would drive and make that pass or get a lay-up."
Although Nesbitt posted the best numbers of her college career this summer, she said playing in the Game Time League gave her more than the confidence to take a shot.
"This summer, I tried to be a leader," Nesbitt said. "I was forced to be that, because I didn't have Kamille to look up to, and I had to take things into my own hands. My first start [at Iowa], I was really nervous — but now I know I'll be OK."
DI reporter Mitch Smith contributed to this report.
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