Window of opportunity opens for Washington freshman McNeill

SEATTLE Heidi McNeill knows this is her chance, and she knows that, at least this year, there may not be many of them.

When junior center Maggie O’Hara underwent shoulder surgery last Friday to remove scar tissue, it left the Washington women’s basketball team in need of another post player to back up starter Andrea Plouffe. And next in line was McNeill, a 6-foot-3 freshman from Oak Harbor.

And so in Saturday’s victory at Arizona, McNeill played a career-high 13 minutes, scoring four points, grabbing two rebounds and getting a steal. To that point, her high in minutes for a game was six. She’d played in seven games but was averaging just about four minutes a game, mostly in garbage time.

O’Hara is expected to return after Saturday’s game at Washington State, but that gives McNeill one more chance to show that she’s ready to contribute more minutes.

“There’s a bit of pressure to show I’m not just out there to give a breather to other players,” McNeill said. “I can actually play and contribute when I’m out there.”

“Opportunities are going to come over the season,” Washington coach June Daugherty said. “It’s up to each player to be ready to perform at a high level when that opportunity comes, because you never know when that window is going to close. And she’s doing a good job. Hopefully she takes advantage of it to earn more minutes so the window stays open for her.”

No one questions that McNeill will have the talent to play in the Pacific-10 at some point. She was a four-year letter winner and three-year captain at Oak Harbor, where she graduated as the school’s career scoring leader(boys or girls) with 1,643 points, and finished second in rebounding (611). She also finished as the school’s career leader in blocks and kills in volleyball.

“She’s just so versatile,” Daugherty said. “She played point guard her senior year at high school. She has a good feel for the game and she’s passionate about basketball. She came here ready to work, ready to learn. Right now, she’s just inexperienced. This is a tough league, it’s a whole different game from high school.”

McNeill picked Washington over Kansas State and Vanderbilt, and she joined a team that struggled with a young group last season but had high expectations this year. Being the only freshman on the team, McNeill has been playing catch-up all season.

“There are times when we’re going through drills and I have no idea what we’re doing,” McNeill said. “Everyone is just running through it and I’m looking around trying to ask someone, ‘What are we doing?’ But I’m starting to figure things out better.”

“We knew she’d be counted on to play this year so we’ve really tried to push her along,” Daugherty said. “She’s talented enough to play. Right now it’s just about her learning what the expectations are while she’s growing at this level.”

McNeill said the biggest adjustment has been to the physical play at the collegiate level. In high school, she was bigger and faster than pretty much anyone she played against and could do what she wanted. That isn’t the case anymore. That’s one reason why her defense is slightly ahead of her offense.

“I’m a little bit shy on offense right now,” McNeill said. “In the beginning, I wasn’t taking a lot of shots in practice. I was a little bit timid and shy. But I’m coming out of my shell now and taking more shots and being more aggressive and physical.”

“Her offense isn’t that far off,” Daugherty said. “That’s what’s exciting. We have to focus on Heidi continuing to build on her offensive weaponry at this level because she has a nice touch around the basket, she has great hands and she’s 6-3. She has an opportunity to really perform at a high level.”

And that opportunity is clearly upon McNeill. The more depth the Huskies have, the better chance they have of reaching the postseason, and that means it’s important for McNeill to continue to make progress.

“It’s hard enough to understand the offense and the defense, as technical as it is at this level,” Daugherty said. “On top of that, she has to understand game plans and what that means to our system. It’s a lot to take in and she’s still working to get comfortable and get to the point where she can just play.”

“It’s been tough being on the bench,” McNeill said. “But I’ve never been OK just staying on the bench. I come out here to earn playing time every day. Hopefully I can show that I’m ready to get more time.”