Erika Lambert doesn’t have to worry much about the freshmen on her roster.
The first-year North Florida women’s basketball coach has Alexa Washington to keep her mind at ease.
“She’s super responsible,” Lambert said of Washington, a 2023 Oakland Catholic graduate and Monroeville native. “She’s definitely the mother hen of the freshmen group, our younger group. She’s always cooking dinner for her teammates and stuff like that.
“I never have any issues with her off the court,” Lambert added. “She’s really a coach’s dream.”
Once the Ospreys freshman shooting guard steps on the court, she only becomes much more so.
Washington is averaging 7.2 points per game as the first player off the North Florida bench and last week was named the NCAA Division I Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Week for the third time. She and North Alabama guard Veronaye Charlton are the only players to be named ASUN Freshman of the Week three times this season.
“It means a lot,” said Washington, who has now received three of the Ospreys’ five conference freshman of the week honors all time. “I feel like going from high school to college is such a change, and it’s something I’ve been nervous about. Coming here and having support, it helps because they just want to see you succeed. It feels like I’m also doing something to help contribute to the team.”
As for being North Florida’s “mother hen” — that’s come more naturally.
“I don’t know why,” Washington said. “I always do it. I’ve always been the mature one or, like, ‘the mom.’ I’m always worried about everyone else. That’s just me.”
Washington locked up her most recent freshman of the week distinction after scoring 19 points with two rebounds, an assist and a steal in North Florida’s 94-82 double-overtime loss Feb. 10 against conference foe Lipscomb.
The 5-foot-6 guard made 7-of-13 shots from the field, 5 of 9 from 3-point range, against Lipscomb, and contributed 13 of her team’s 15 fourth-quarter points to erase a 16-point deficit and force overtime.
“She just came in firing,” Lambert said. “She really exploded on offense in that game, and I think she and our point guard Jayla Adams were really in sync. Those two have really developed a good friendship off the court, but their dynamic on the court has been really beneficial to our team.
“They’re the two that are always in the gym. They’re always staying after practice together.”
The work has paid off in a big way.
Washington is shooting 40% from the field, 35% from beyond the 3-point arc, while averaging 1.5 rebounds per game with 27 assists and 16 steals. She is averaging 20.5 minutes per game and has reached double figures eight times, which includes a career-high 31-point explosion in a Dec. 13 game against Piedmont.
Lambert said she has been impressed with Washington’s ability to be among her team’s “top five” offensive producers.
“Everybody knows she’s a 3-point shooter,” Lambert said. “My main concern for her this year was just that as we started getting deeper into the season and scouting reports became more important and conference opponents really got locked in on matchups, was she still going to be able to be effective for us on the court if people doubled down on her 3-point shot.”
So far, so good, Lambert said.
“She’s a small guard,” she said of Washington. “She’s done a really good job of getting crafty with taking the ball to the basket. She’s not the fastest player on the court, but she uses two speeds really well, which I think can be really dangerous.”
Washington said she has worked hard to adjust to the rigors of Division I basketball, which include off-court considerations like travel and time management concerns.
“Coming here I’ve been a shooter,” Washington said. “The main thing they’ve been trying to preach to me is that you just can’t be a shooter because they’re going to scout you. I have to get to the rim and I’m capable of doing it. It’s just a confidence thing that I have to have in myself.”
Aside from her own coaching staff, Washington said she has also gotten support from Matthew Driscoll, North Florida’s men’s basketball coach.
Driscoll — a Northgate product and Slippery Rock University graduate — coached at his alma maters, in addition to making stops at Butler County Community College and La Roche. He also coached at Seneca Valley in addition to serving as an assistant coach at Division I schools Valparaiso, Baylor, Wyoming and Clemson.
“He was saying, ‘WPIAL basketball is so tough. You’ve got it,’” Washington said. “I’m like, ‘Thanks.’ At the beginning of the year, I was so nervous. Our first game was against University of Florida and I was like, ‘Dang.’ Now, I feel like my confidence is growing and being recognized by the ASUN, freshman of the week, I feel like that only helps my confidence grow, too.”
Despite taking time to adjust to Division I basketball, Washington said she benefited from her time at Oakland Catholic.
Washington led Eagles coach Eddie Benton Jr.’s team to a 25-win season a year ago, which included trips to the WPIAL Class 5A championship game and the PIAA semifinals. She averaged 16.3 points and 3.5 steals per game as a senior en route to being named to the Pittsburgh Union Progress’ all-star team.
“Honestly, I felt really prepared,” said Washington, who scored 1,271 career points in high school. “I think having Eddie Benton as my coach in high school — and him coaching in the college atmosphere before coaching high school — just helped prepare me for college. He didn’t run high school like a high school practice. He ran it like a college practice.
“I feel like he just prepared me to come into college with known terms that college athletes and coaches were using, and just the pace of the game.”
With a fast start to her career in tow, Lambert said she expects big things from Washington as she matures in her program.
“She’s just a quiet worker,” Lambert said. “When she gets freshman of the week, we always embarrass her a little bit at practice celebrating it. We go nuts. We get really hyped about it. She hates it because she doesn’t like to be the center of attention. Her face gets all red and stuff.
“She’s not about the hype,” Lambert added. “She just puts her head down and works. I think a player like that, when you have that kind of mentality, really the sky is the limit.”
Washington said she is aiming to be named the ASUN Freshman of the Year. She added, though, the chance to be a part of rebuilding North Florida’s program means much more than any personal accolades.
“It’s a good feeling to know that you can come in somewhere and have a coach believe in you and just see the people around you saying, ‘This team is getting way better. They’re hustling way more than they were last year,’” she said. “Playing as a freshman, it’s like, oh, you are contributing to a team becoming way better than they were a year before and then you can get better next year.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.