MORGANTOWN — Athletes often talk about the importance of being ready for their chance. “Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready” has become a popular saying for athletes in recent years.
A player’s moment can come at any time and in any situation. Sometimes it’s hitting a big shot late in a game or making free throws to defend a lead. Sometimes it’s coming in cold off the bench to defend one of the most dangerous offensive players in the Big 12.
West Virginia’s Dannelle Arigbabu was called upon to do the latter on Saturday as the Mountaineers needed someone to match up in the paint with imposing Iowa State freshman Audi Crooks.
The first-year Mountaineer from Berlin, Germany did just that, holding Crooks to just one field goal in the fourth quarter as WVU defeated the Cyclones 84-78.
“I thought Danelle came in and gave us great minutes,” WVU coach Mark Kellogg said. “You’ve got to just stay ready and the kid stayed ready and battled.”
Crooks might be the biggest frontcourt player in the Big 12 this season and despite being just a freshman, she’s fifth in the lead in scoring (17.4 points per game), eighth in rebounding (7.4), third in field goal percentage (58.0%) and third in free throws (68-105). In essence, there’s a good chance that on any Iowa State possession Crooks with either make a basket, grab a rebound or make it to the foul line.
In the third quarter alone, Crooks scored 12 points, was 3-3 from the field, 6-7 from the foul line and grabbed four rebounds.
Only leading by five entering the fourth quarter, WVU needed to figure something out or risk Crooks taking over the end of the game. That’s when Kellogg called upon Arigbabu.
“This is what we brought her for,” Kellogg said. “We knew we needed size and we needed somebody guarding some of the size in the Big 12 and she is the one girl who can do that for us.
“It makes Crooks have to work that much harder when you can put Danelle in there.”
It worked like a charm, as Arigbabu held Crooks to just four points in the fourth on 1-4 shooting from the field with only two free throw attempts.
“It was huge, it was huge minutes,” said WVU starting forward Kylee Blacksten, who guarded Crooks early in the game. “She did everything that she was supposed to do. She gave our team that little bit of a boost in the fourth quarter that we really needed.”
Arigbabu came out of the game briefly to catch her breath but otherwise spent the entire fourth quarter guarding Crooks.
“She got a little tired because she hasn’t played those extended minutes so we tried to get her a quick break,” Kellogg said, “but I thought, to her credit, she stayed ready.”
Arigbabu played 12 minutes on Saturday, her second-most in a game since Big 12 play started. It wasn’t just her defense playing a factor either. Arigbabu scored five points, her most in conference play, with a field goal and four trips to the foul line. She also dished out a nifty behind-the-back pass for an assist.
“I wish you could’ve seen her early when she got here to see the improvement that she’s made. She has come so far,’ Kellogg said. “She has an (offensive) skillset, she just doesn’t always look to take advantage of it. The moves were good, I thought the passes were the right pass. She’s just got to slow down.”
This is Arigbabu’s first season in Morgantown, but her third playing college basketball after spending two seasons at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. Saturday was perhaps her first taste of what Big 12 basketball is all about.
“This is a big-time level and she’s coming up from a junior college,” Kellogg said. “She just needed the game to slow down a little bit, but I think that’s what you’re seeing now.”
“She’s grown so much mentally, physically, all of it,” said Blacksten, who goes against Arigbabu regularly in practice. “She’s really taken everything that the coaches have said and put it in to play. I think that preparation is what’s given her the opportunities to be so confident coming into the games.”
When going over the players he thought played well on Saturday, Kellogg very rarely named off his entire rotation, including Arigbabu. For as much credit that standouts like JJ Quinerly, Jordan Harrison and Lauren Fields have received for WVU’s success this season, it might come down to players like Arigbabu being able to contribute at a moment’s notice that will determine how far the Mountaineers can truly go.
“I think the lesson is to stay ready,” Kellogg said. “You never know when you’re number’s going to get called. This is a long season, it’s a long conference season but the kid comes every day with a great attitude and works her tail off.”
