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Courtesy of Tim Cowie

Radford University freshman Da'Naria Erwin Spencer says the transition from high school to college was challenging. "Starting as a freshman is great, but I'm still adjusting to life at college."

| Chuck Altizer

Special to The Roanoke Times

Radford University women's basketball coach Tajama Ngongba knows what she wants in her point guard.

It's the same as a lot of other coaches.

"The point guard has to be an extension of me," she said.

"I remember back to when I was playing, I was always looking at the point guard. They are the ones that set the offense and the defense."

This season the Highlanders have put the role in the hands of a freshman -- and Da'Naria Erwin Spencer is taking a firm grasp of the position.

"She has really stepped up for a freshman," said Ngongba, who added that Erwin Spencer's "steadiness" was one of the reasons Radford recruited her.

"She is the type of kid that can handle that pressure. She is not rattled easily. She is stable emotionally and not a roller coaster."

But as Erwin Spencer noted, she was not without her freshman moments, either.

"College is a big difference than high school," she said.

"It was hard to learn the plays and the new system plus take care of your school work. There is a lot more speed, and I have to play more to the college expectation. Starting as a freshman is great, but I'm still adjusting to life at college."

Erwin Spencer's freshman season has had it share of ups and downs.

She has had three games where she has missed 10 or more shots. She also turned the ball over 10 times in a loss at Hampton earlier in the season.

Of course, freshman struggles can be contributed to playing talented teams such as ACC foes North Carolina and Virginia Tech, plus Big East power West Virginia, along with several talented teams from mid-major conferences such as the Colonial.

"Those are the teams I'm used to seeing play on TV," Erwin Spencer said. "I didn't really expect to being playing them as a freshman, but the tough early schedule has gotten us ready for conference."

And Erwin Spencer has put in some of her best performances in the team's first five conference games.

She recorded a double-double against UNC-Asheville when she scored 11 points and handed out 10 assists. She scored her career-high 18 points in the victory at Gardner-Webb, one of the favorites in the Big South.

"I'm trying to be more vocal on the court even though I am a freshman," she said. "I may see something on the court that the coach didn't see, and I have to make the adjustment for my team."

After a tough nonconference slate that saw the Highlanders go 1-10, the team jumped out to a 4-1 start in conference before dropping its past two ball games on the road.

With games coming up against Liberty and Gardner-Webb at home this week, the Highlanders are looking to get back to the magic they had to start the season as they will have five of their final seven conference games on the road.

It is something that Ngongba thinks her young team can get back.

"It is exciting, and everyone here has been so supportive," she said.

"If you look at the big picture when our sophomores and freshmen are juniors and seniors have the potential to be a very exciting team. But I'm also excited for the next two or three weeks because we are getting better each and every week."