Walker excelling at Western Illinois

The Western Illinois University women's basketball team got a new shooting machine this season.

And Hampshire graduate Amanda Walker has been taking full advantage of it.

A member of two Hampshire state finals teams, Walker, a junior guard, has watched her statistics continue to soar this season. To start the week, Walker was leading the team in scoring (10.8 ppg) and field-goal percentage (.559). Walker has hit 9 of 19 three-point attempts (.474) and is shooting .700 from the free-throw line. Walker is also averaging 3.0 rebounds and has 15 assists against 11 turnovers.

"I've been working on my shooting," said Walker. "We got this new shooting machine. It rebounds the ball for you. It just gets you more shooting opportunities. I've been able to get more reps and the coaches have given me some tips and both things have helped improve my shot. My shooting percentage has gone up. I think my shot has improved a lot. Practice makes perfect."

Walker has seen steady improvement since hitting Macomb 3 years ago. She averaged 3.3 points as a freshman and led Western in scoring last year (9.0 ppg). Walker hit double digits in scoring 14 times last year.

"It definitely was a big step," said Walker. "It's been a huge learning process going from varsity high school basketball to college. It's much more intense and physically and mentally demanding. But as you get older, you get used to it. As you get older, you get wiser. If you do things right, you will learn. It's been a big jump, but the experience I have here now really helps. I'm one of the more experienced retuning guards."

Western coach Leslie Crane has shouldered Walker with more responsibility this season.

"Amanda is such a great floor leader for us defensively and offensively," said Crane. "I've empowered her to do more of that this year. She's taken on that role and done a great job with it. We need a floor general like that. Her shooting has improved a great deal and her defense has always been good. She does a lot of great things for us that don't show up in the scorebook."

Crane said Walker's improvement overall since her freshman year has more to do with maturity than sheer skill advancement.

"It's not so much a dramatic improvement as it is her maturity level," said Crane. "She understands the system and she knows the role she has to take on. She's grabbed on to it with both hands and our players respect her for that. I've asked her to take on more of a leadership role. She definitely knows what I'm asking of her. She does a great job of getting other people involved and I know that will continue with her."

Walker doesn't mind the leadership role she's segued into this season.

"We've got 3 seniors on the team and everybody on the team is developing roles," said Walker. "We don't have one giant leading scorer. There are 3 or 4 of us that average around 10 points. I guess I'm an old underclassman. I've definitely taken a leadership role. But it's been a team effort by everyone. I've been in the program before so I know what to expect. There were people that helped me when I was a freshman so you naturally help the freshmen out telling them how to do things or helping them out with what the coaches are saying."

Walker has been known throughout her college career as a staunch defender.

"At Western, coach Crane's big stresses are defense and rebounding," said Walker. "Those are the main things we work on. Our offense will come with our defense. If we are having a bad offensive night, we can play into our defensive game and that will help carry into our offense. You have to score more points than the opponents in this game, so defense is definitely the key to winning."

Crane said defense was one of the reasons Walker was courted in high school.

"Her defense is the best part of her game," said Crane. "She shoots the 3 so very well and we've been working with her on that. But her defense has always been the best part of her game and that's one reason why we wanted her in this system."

Walker is also furthering herself in the classroom. She recently declared an elementary education major.

"I just started it," said Walker. "I think I made the right decision. It's definitely a good choice. I had no idea before, but sophomore year I was leaning toward this. Throughout my life, coaches have made a big impact on me. Maybe I can coach one day? People have taught me a lot. I love kids and I want to teach other kids."

As far as this season is concerned, Walker is looking forward to the future.

"We have 3 junior college transfers and some other newcomers," said Walker. "The rest of us have been playing with each other for 2 or 3 years now. I definitely think we are starting to click here. We're fast and we're guard-oriented. I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the season. I think this season will bring some good things."

Raebel at Whitewater: Cary-Grove alum A.J. Raebel is a senior linebacker on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team. Raebel and Whitewater (12-1) will play in the NCAA Division III national semifinals Saturday at noon in Whitewater against Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.). Whitewater is the No. 2 ranked team, while Hardin-Baylor (12-1) is No. 4. Raebel was recently named to the all-WIAC first-team for the third straight season. He was a unanimous selection this season. On the season, Raebel has 51 solo tackles and 41 assisted tackles. He has 11 tackles for loss totaling 40 yards and also has 5.5 quarterback sacks for 28 yards in looses. Raebel also has 3 pass break ups, 1 quarterback hurry, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at difibulator@aol.com.