Hunter Lyle – Sports Writer
In her first season starting, junior forward Jessica Fressle is playing a pivotal part of the team as she showcases her breakout season.
After losing several players from the year before, the elementary education major said it is now her turn to help the team win.
“I really think the difference [between last year and this year] is just earning your spot and really learning from the upperclassmen,” said Fressle. “In this kind of league, you just have to wait your turn. You know you’re good enough,0 but everyone’s good.”
In the previous 2017-2018 season, Fressle played in 22 games and averaged 2.5 points and 1.2 rebounds. This season, she is averaging 18.7 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game, off an average 35 minutes a night.
Senior guard Amanda Pfohl said she believes Fressle is just beginning to show her potential.
“As a basketball player, it’s so amazing just seeing her grow from a freshman to now. She’s obviously one of the most physical players on our team,” said Pfohl. “Right now, she has learned so much about herself, so much about her game, that I honestly feel like she’s an unstoppable player. She has post up moves, she has her pull-up game and she can knock down a three. What five knocks down a three?”
After the team lost four starters from the year before, head coach Kate Lynch said it is Fressle’s time to shine.
“Jess brings energy every day. She’s one of our hardest workers, she’s always does what we ask her to do all the time. She’s been doing that since freshman year so it’s really nice to see her step into a role that we knew could always be her role,” said Lynch. “She’s a scorer, that’s who she is, and the last few years she’s just been behind people. Due to graduation, she’s getting these opportunities and she’s making the most of them.”
Fressle started playing basketball in seventh grade, but said basketball was always in her blood.
“Basketball has always run in my family. My dad always played, everyone on my dad’s side always played,” said Fressle. “My dad’s best friend is the assistant coach at Quinnipiac, and he used to coach at Fordham and Hoftrsa, so I grew up always watching those games.”
Fressle chose to enroll at Southern mainly because of the impression Lynch made when recruiting.
“Coach Lynch was my first offer, she actually was recruiting me to Molloy [College], and I always loved her, she was very personable,” said Fressle. “When she told me she was leaving Molloy and coming here, she decided to bring me with her and I decided to stay loyal to her and come here.”
Lynch said that while recruiting, the coaches looked at how Fressle preformed through good games and bad. “She’ll be on the bench, she’ll be the loudest person
on there. She’s always encouraging her teammates, she’ll look her coaches in the eyes. So yes, it’s about the scoring, it’s about the whole package of player but how does she interact with her staff, how does she interact with her teammates,” said Lynch. “Those are the intangibles that Jess brings, she’s just somebody that loves the game. We look for all those little things when recruiting, and Jess absolutely checked all those boxes. We’re really happy that she chose to come to Southern in the end.”
With the help of the Fressle-Pfohl Steinauer Big Three, the women’s basketball team started hot, with a 5-2 record. “I think confidence [is the key to great start],” said Lynch.
“I think this group has the ability to do something really special, but that’s going to be up to them.”
Photo Credit: Palmer Piana, Southernctowls.com
