Ellison shows poise as a young player

By Jacob Meikel

Freshman Tiani Ellison is getting more and more comfortable playing at the college level and saved her best performance to date for one of the biggest games of the season.

On Saturday, Ellison posted a career-high 18 points on 8-13 shooting from the field goal against the top team in the MIAA in Northwest Missouri State. Ellison was unsurprised by her performance in a big game.

“All I can say is it’s not my first rodeo. I’ve been doing this my entire life and it’s like any other game to me. You got to go out there and do what you know how to do,” Ellison said.

The freshman has earned the trust of her teammates and coaches. Head coach Candi Whitaker spoke highly of Ellison after the 98-78 victory over Washburn less than one month ago, and shared the same sentiments about the emergent freshman from Durant, Oklahoma.

“I think Tiani, she has only scratched the surface. She’s going to be a big time player in this league and for this university, but no, I don’t think there’s much that gets her nervous or rattled. She really believes in what she’s doing,” Whitaker said.

With a strong stretch of games as of recent, Ellison is now the second leading scorer on the team behind senior Connie Clarke. With the bulk of either player’s damage being done in the paint, that adds a new dimension for Missouri Western, who already leads the MIAA in three pointers this season.

“We have size in the paint, so I feel like we executed that great [Saturday],” Clarke said. “[Whitaker] said we have opportunity in the paint and this is where we have our bread and butter.”

Western is in the middle of a three-game homestand, with their next two games against Newman on Thursday and Central Oklahoma on Saturday.