Imagine being a freshman athlete on a collegiate team.

You are still trying to get to know your teammates and your coaches, while building relationships with all the new people around you.

You want playing time in your sport, of course, but it’s usually expected that you will be able to learn how to play your position by talking to and studying the veterans who are ahead of you on the depth chart.

That wasn’t the case for freshmen Helen Terry and Shay Jones.

The two members of the women’s basketball team entered their rookie campaigns knowing they would be competing for starting point guard duties this season.

“I came in knowing I had a chance to be one of the starters, and I knew I had to work harder than I’ve ever worked before,” Jones said. “Helen and I both knew how hard we had to work from Day One, and we had to fight every practice during the preseason.”

“I felt like it was real competitive in the beginning,” Terry said. “We were both working really hard and would always challenge each other to improve. That competitiveness was good for both of us, and I feel like now we are working harder during practices than ever before.”

It wasn’t always supposed to be this way. The responsibility of court general was supposed to belong to Kiki Rutledge.

Rutledge had the opportunity to play behind and learn from former CSU great Pam Tolbert for the majority of her rookie campaign last year. With Tolbert’s graduation, the job of starting point guard was Rutledge’s to lose.

That was until the sophomore suffered an injury that forced her out of the entire 2009-10 campaign.

“At first I was really devastated when I got injured,” Rutledge said. “Along the way, though, I realized that basketball is just another thing I need to focus on. I have really been able to use this time to concentrate more on God and focus on other things like helping my teammates and growing closer to them and my family.”

Rutledge’s teammates took notice of her maturation, and the respect she earned in the locker room earned her one of the three captain spots this season, along with lone senior Tina DeCarvalho and junior Katie Tull.

With the injury to Rutledge, the keys of the offense were handed over to two unproven rookies.

The transition was quick, and both players have shown glimpses of the greatness to come.

“So far I think I’m doing pretty well in my first year,” Terry said. “I know there are a lot of things I need to work on and get better at, though. I know I need to be more vocal on the court. I also need to work on controlling the ball more and knowing what to do in certain situations.”

“I think I’m getting better as far as handling myself and not thinking so fast out there,” Jones said. “I am getting better at just thinking about the game instead of going so fast the whole time.”

The dynamic duo isn’t totally alone in learning the offense and figuring out how to play at the Division I level. Despite her injury, Rutledge has taken her captain title to a whole new level. She is constantly teaching her teammates and using her knowledge to give them advice on how they can improve their respective games.

“I try to be a great encourager for Helen and Shay, especially during big games,” Rutledge said. “When they sit next to me, I point out things that they are doing well and things they can improve on.”

Rutledge was named Big South Freshman of the Week twice last season and was also a member of the 2008-09 All-Freshman Team.

Photos by CSU Sports Information