Alyssa DeAngelo took pride in her ability to shoot from 3-point range during a high school career that saw her eclipse the 1,000-point mark en route to leading Thomas Jefferson to a WPIAL runner-up finish as a senior.
When this 5-foot-10 guard/forward failed to find long-distance range up to her previous standards in her first two seasons at Fairmont State University, a natural feeling started to creep in.
“It was extremely frustrating because I felt that my 3-point shot was kind of my identity in high school,” she said.
Before the start of the 2022-23 season, DeAngelo said she got back in the gym and worked to create a faster release on her shot.
That small tweak, combined with the other formidable aspects of her game, has paid dividends for the Fighting Falcons this season.
“I feel like offensively I’m definitely a big driving threat,” DeAngelo said. “Over this past summer, I really worked hard on expanding my game in every aspect. Teams are having to guard an outside presence, too.”
DeAngelo is averaging a team-high 19.8 points per game, which is good for a tie for 18th among NCAA Division II players.
“She can score all three ways,” said Fairmont State coach Stephanie Anderson of DeAngelo, whom she credits as now being lethal from distance, in her mid-range game and around the basket as a junior.
“Her growth has been great,” the fourth-year coach added. “Every year we’ve challenged her to do something else. I think this year she’s really leaning into that leadership role. It’s been really fun seeing her lean into that, and it’s been fun seeing her grow into that.”
In each of her seasons at Fairmont State, DeAngelo has shown growth in her ability to score.
DeAngelo led all Mountain East Conference freshmen in scoring with an average of 13.1 points per game in 2021. After being named the conference’s freshman of the year, she went on to average 15.3 points per game as a sophomore and was named first-team all-conference alongside former teammate Sierra Kotchman, a Trinity graduate.
“I started out pretty young with my shooting and focusing on it,” DeAngelo said. “I kind of had an adjustment coming into college.
“I’m way more consistent from the 3-point line,” she added of her success this season. “Teams are having to defend that, and in the past they didn’t.”
DeAngelo also has had to contend with losing Kotchman, who set Fairmont State’s all-time scoring mark with 2,556 career points in addition to ending her career with the most 3-pointers in program history before graduating after last season.
“It’s definitely an adjustment, but with Sierra leaving we’ve also had some people step up that haven’t had such a prominent scoring role last year,” DeAngelo said. “I feel like it’s an adjustment that we’ve handled pretty well as a team.”
Senior guard Katy Darnell has stepped up and is averaging 17.3 points per game for Fairmont, while guard Jertaya Hall and forward Jalen Gibbs are kicking in 10.7 and 10.0 points, respectively.
“We’ve given Alyssa the ball late game since she’s been a freshman, so we’ve always kind of leaned on her in big moments,” Anderson said. “She’s been a great teammate, which has led a lot of her teammates to step up. We’re getting a lot of scoring from a lot of different areas.
“I don’t think she feels that she needs to shoot it every time,” Anderson added. “It’s super empowering for her teammates when she does that.”
Playing hard on the defensive end of the court has also been critical for DeAngelo and her teammates this season.
Fairmont State’s tough man-to-man defense sets the tone on both ends of the court, DeAngelo said.
“If I’m focusing on my defense, my offense kind of follows,” she said. “That’s a big part of our team. If our leaders are playing defense then everyone follows. It’s definitely an energy booster for us.”
Fairmont State (8-4, 4-2 MEC) currently sits in fourth place in the conference behind Glenville State (10-1, 5-1), Charleston (9-2, 5-1) and West Virginia State (8-2, 4-2).
DeAngelo said she is aiming to lead Fairmont State to a feat which she came within a game of achieving in high school — winning a championship.
“I want to win a championship here,” she said. “That’s something I was never able to do, even in my opportunities at TJ, so personally that’s something I’ve always been striving toward.
“I think for us it’s just staying as one as a team,” she added. “If we start to play as individuals and not want the person next to us to succeed then we definitely won’t do what we want to this season.”
With DeAngelo as a leader, the Fighting Falcons’ goals are definitely within reach, Anderson said.
“I think that this team plays extremely hard every single night,” she said. “They come in and approach practice really well every single day. I’m ecstatic to see what happens over the next couple weeks.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.