Ferrell ready to take Rams to the top

BLUEFIELD, Va. — Heather Ferrell has felt a multitude of emotions as a college basketball player. She has experienced difficult lows and euphoric highs.

And that was just in two seasons.

Ferrell began her collegiate career at Bluefield State, but transferred to Bluefield College because she was not happy as a member of the Big Blues.

“The first year I got here, I struggled with injuries,” Ferrell said. “After that, I was good. Things have went really good. I had a good season last year.”

Ferrell had a good season partly because she was healthy and partly because of head coach Steve Hardin. The head man took over during the 2007-08 season and immediately changed the culture.

“It went from a losing mentality to actually thinking that we had a chance and actually thinking positive about the outlook of the season,” Ferrell said.

When Hardin changed the culture, he also changed the fortunes of the Lady Rams.

“It was just better overall, even with our spirits and coming to this year,” Ferrell said. “I think we only won three games the year before and last year we won 13. So I think it was just a stepping stone for us.”

Ferrell had an epiphany of her own. She went from putting up just 4.85 points per game the previous year to leading a deep Lady Rams team with 8.68 points per game last season. She credited the sudden rise to the learning she has done throughout her career and her desire to help her team win.

“That just happened because I went in the game, I knew what I had to do and I just got it done,” Ferrell said. “I really wasn’t looking to go score 20 points. I was just, if it happened, it happened. And that was the outcome of it. I actually did not play a whole lot of minutes. It’s actually kind-of surprising that I was the leading scorer.”

It surprised Ferrell. But it did not surprise those who know of her tireless work ethic or her dedication to the squad.

“I come in the gym every day before practice, after practice. I’m trying to do whatever we gotta do to win,” she said. “It makes us better if we individually come in and work on our game. Then collectively as a whole we get better.

“So I’m doing whatever I gotta do. I’m having people analyze me, tell me what I need to work on, getting in the gym and working on it, I’m just trying to get better for our team and myself.”

Ferrell also works hard because she knows her teammates are working hard as well and she does not want to let them down.

“I feel like we have a good team and we all get along,” she said. “There hasn’t been any real drama this year or anything. So we’ve gotten along pretty good for girls.”

Ferrell’s one shining moment came last December, when she scored 21 points to lead the Lady Rams to a victory over her old school, Bluefield State. She made seven 3-point shots in that game — every one meaningful.

“That was the best memory for me, finally proving that y’all lost something, you did,” Ferrell said.

“That’s your rival school. That was the first school I went to. It just proved that I am a legit player. That was a huge confidence boost for me and really just a shot at them being the reason I left and I’m still making it even without y’all.

“I went on to something better and I’m still assailing. So really it was just like a confidence boost in my life and just proving that I can go somewhere else and still do something good.”

Being the leading scorer like she was against the Lady Blues is meaningless without victory. Last season saw the Rams rise from the bottom of the Appalachian Athletic Conference. This season, Ferrell wants to finish the climb to the top.

“I want to try to go 16-0 in the conference,” she said. “I don’t want to lose one game and if we do then definitely by the end of the season I want to end up being in the higher ranking of the conference. I don’t want to end up near the middle or bottom. I want to end up at the top ’cause we’re good enough to be at the top.”

She is not the only one who wants to end up at the top.

“We all want to,” Ferrell said. “I think we’re all definitely on the same page and want to win. We want to do whatever we gotta do to get it done. My team works extremely hard. I’m really proud of them that we come in here every day and bust our butts, get it done and hopefully the outcome will be us winning.”

For the sports medicine major with the goal of becoming a personal trainer or a strength and conditioning coach, this season represents another obstacle, but it is an obstacle that she is ready to overcome with the other Lady Rams.

“Every year it’s more challenges, different challenges and I feel like that every year I grow up and learn different things and mature more,” Ferrell said. “This year I feel like I’m where I need to be, like total-team wise, like selfish-wise, like team is my first priority.”

Ferrell knows something about surviving and thriving. It defines her Bluefield College career.

“I feel like since I’ve been here and I’ve been put in some of these situations and dealt with a lot that I’ve adapted pretty well,” she said. “I feel like if I could take anything (from my experiences), I would take the knowledge of learning how to adapt to certain situations and how to handle them differently.”

— Contact Jed Lockett

at jlockett@bdtonline.com

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