PRIDE PROFILE: VANESSA GIDDEN

Hofstra center Vanessa Gidden has shown some remarkable improvement from her freshman year to her sophomore year. What's really remarkable, though, is that there's likely much more improvement from her still to come.

Gidden has emerged as Hofstra's top low post threat this season in the absence of senior Amaka Agugua, who is yet to play this season with an injury. Agugua led the Pride in scoring and rebounding last winter and was a preseason first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection this year. Her loss left a gaping hole in Hofstra’s line-up, and Gidden has responded to the challenge.

“Amaka was our go-to player last season,” said Gidden. “She’s such a great player, and I knew going into preseason that I would need to step up without her. I know I can’t fill her shoes entirely, but I still knew I needed to pick up my game a little to help the team.”

Gidden was a solid contributor off the bench for the Pride as a freshman, averaging 4.7 points and 4.4 rebounds. She has taken a huge leap forward this season, though, and currently ranks second on the Pride in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 rpg).

Gidden credits some of her improvement to being more familiar with the college game after having her freshman season under her belt. “I feel like I’ve adjusted a little more this season,” she said. “I’m still young and still learning, though. I’m still not close to being the player I want to be.”

“Vanessa has a passion to be the best,” said Hofstra Head Coach Felisha Legette-Jack. “She has a desire and a commitment to keep making herself a better player. Vanessa's also our only true post player right now, so she has to be an elephant for us and really carry the load. She’s accepted that responsibility and met the challenge head-on.”

Gidden admits that there are times that she wishes Agugua and fellow sophomore post player Lana Harshaw (who has missed the last three games with an injury of her own) were healthy. “At times it’s hard and you start to feel a little tired out there,” said Gidden. “But you need to take it upon yourself to keep playing hard and do your best every minute that you’re out on the floor. It doesn’t matter if you’re tired, your team still needs you.”

A native of Jamaica, Gidden moved to the United States at the age of 10 and has only been playing basketball for five years, but you wouldn’t know from watching her play. She improved rapidly enough at Stamford High School in Connecticut to average a double-double as a junior and senior and become the first player at her school in the last 12 years to get a Division I scholarship.

At Hofstra, she has already progressed from a valuable susbstitute into a potentially dominant low post scorer in barely more than a year. Her season-high in scoring as a freshman was 10 points, a figure she more than doubled on opening day this year with 21 points against Quinnipiac. She has been in double figures in nine of Hofstra's 12 games, including three of 20 or more and two others with 19. She has three double-doubles, including 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in a virtual homecoming game at Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Despite being relatively new to the sport, Gidden has already developed a rare combination of quickness and power in the low post, enabling her to get good position on the low block consistently -- and then take advantage of it. She has the ability to either jump over her defenders or explode to the basket with a quick move from 10 feet and in. She has also shown a soft touch on her turnaround jumper and the ability to score with either hand around the basket.

The one area that she is rapidly improving is in her ability to face the basket and extend the range on her jumper. In the Pride’s 77-64 win at George Mason on January 6, she finished with a career-high 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting, while stepping out and knocking down several jumpers out to 15 feet.

“It was one of those days when everything seemed to be working,” said Gidden. “Everything was just coming naturally within the team concept. I didn’t even know I had that many points, so much of it was just that the team was playing well together and everyone was doing their part.”

Indeed, it was a team effort, as sophomore guard Cigi McCollin added 23 points, while two other Pride players nearly had triple-doubles. Sophomore forward Lizanne Murphy had eight points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, while senior guard Charlotte Baldrey-Chourio added eight points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. “It was a great game for us,” Gidden said. “When everyone contributes, it’s much more rewarding.”

Gidden’s attitude is one of many things that has impressed Legette-Jack about her sophomore center. “Vanessa always puts the team first,” Legette-Jack said. “She believes in the team concept and that it is only through teamwork that individual accolades and accomplishments can start to occur.”

The respect also extends from player to coach, and is one of the primary reasons that Gidden is attending Hofstra. “The first time I visited campus and heard Coach Jack speak, I believed in everything she said,” Gidden stated. “She’s a great coach, and I knew there was something special about Hofstra. I knew this was the place for me.”

Gidden’s freshman season, which included a head-turning upset win over national power Old Dominion, helped convince her that her instincts were on the mark. “I think its natural for freshmen when they first come to campus to wonder if they made the right choice and if they are in the right place,” said Gidden. “When the team did so well, it helped reinforce that I made the right decision.”

Gidden, though, is quick to add that she and her teammates are far from satisfied. “We’re still not where we want to be,” she said. “Coach reminds us all the time that we may have surprised some people, but we still only finished 14-14. We have much higher goals we hope to achieve.”

The #1 goal on that list? “We want to win the conference and get to the tournament,” said Gidden. “We still have a long way to go, and we have to keep working hard and just take it step-by-step. If we can keep improving, I know we can get there.”

And Gidden is a person who certainly knows a thing or two about improving.