HARRISONBURG — Logan Reynolds knows her job on the James Madison women’s basketball team isn’t to lead the Dukes in scoring.
That doesn’t mean she wasn’t just a little tired of people thinking she can’t score.
“Yeah,” Reynolds said. “I was honestly tired of being disrespected a little bit.”
The senior point guard is arguably the most important player in the country averaging less than three points per game. With JMU’s multiple scoring options, Reynolds’ focus is often elsewhere.
She leads the Dukes (18-4, 10-1 Colonial Athletic Association) at 3.8 assists per game and her 3.6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio is by far the best in the conference.
Defensively, Reynolds is often tasked with checking bigger guards and ranks eighth in the CAA at 1.8 steals per game.
“She’s taken it as a personal challenge,” JMU coach Sean O’Regan said. “She just said, ‘I’m going to show you I can dominate a game scoring or not scoring.’”
But as more teams begin to use double teams and gimmick defenses against CAA Preseason Player of the Year Kamiah Smalls, Reynolds has seen more of a need to use her ability to get into the lane to look to the basket instead of always looking to dish.
Sunday at Hofstra, Reynolds loaded up the stat sheet. She scored a season-high 11 points on eight field-goal attempts, also the most this year.
She also added eight rebounds, six assists and five steals without a turnover.
Reynolds has at least doubled her season average in scoring in three of the past five games, and an ability to keep defenses honest should only open things up more for her teammates.
This week the Dukes play host to College of Charleston on Friday before a Sunday rematch with UNC Wilmington, which gave JMU its only conference loss.
But a more aggressive Reynolds could add a new wrinkle to that one.
“They’ve been doubling off me with Kamiah or doubling down in the post,” Reynolds said. “I wanted to take over in my own way. It’s a game-by-game thing, but I know how to feel it out and can do it when I need to take the initiative.”
