BELTON — Going into Thursday night’s ASC opener against East Texas Baptist, who had received the third-most votes of any unranked team in Monday’s D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, The Cru knew they’d need a spark to stay in contention.
They found that in Rachel Okoye.
On a night when four of the five starters played over 30 minutes, and no bench player recorded more than 14, Okoye gave UMHB 34 quality minutes, scoring a team-high 22 points. The junior guard shot 9-of-15 from the field, and accounted for half of UMHB’s made 3-pointers, shooting 4-of-5 from long-range. Nine of her 22 points came in the fourth quarter.
It was all in a day’s work for one of The Cru’s most impactful guards this season, as UMHB begins the trek through its conference schedule. From here on out, every game matters in the league standings. And with three legitimate Top 50 teams in the ASC, there are challenges at every turn.
ETBU came away with a 78-68 win in a contest that was even closer than that on Thursday, providing for some good learning opportunities, especially considering UMHB gets the Tigers again in Marshall in just three weeks. For Okoye, it marked a season-high in scoring and was also the fourth time in the last five games in which she’s been on the floor for 30-plus minutes.
She then came back on Saturday to lead UMHB in scoring with 13 points, as The Cru got past LeTourneau, 60-47, for their first conference win.
Seeing Okoye’s role within the rotation at this point, it may come as a surprise that she averaged just 10.5 minutes/game through her first six contests for the purple & gold. But that is one of the dynamics of being a transfer, coming into a new team and adjusting to a different style of play. It takes time to form chemistry with teammates. To develop a level of comfort in the system that warrants 30-minute-a-game performances on a regular basis.
Not only did Okoye understand that entering her first season in Belton, but she credits those around her—both teammates and coaches—for giving her the confidence to push through it.
“It was tough in the beginning, coming into a new team and a new playing style from what I was used to at the junior college level,” Okoye, who played two seasons at Western Texas College, said. “But it was a challenge I was ready to take on.
“My teammates and coaches always reassured me and let me know that I was here for a reason. Having their reassurance, and staying faithful, and praying consistently, helped me develop a better confidence and know my position on this team. It helped me get out of the little funk I was in.”
She stayed committed to her development, eventually breaking into the starting lineup in UMHB’s road matchup at then-No. 5 Whitman on Dec. 12. It began a streak of 11 straight starts for Okoye, and one that seems likely to continue as The Cru looks towards an ASC road weekend at Howard Payne and Hardin-Simmons. In those 11 contests, she has been productive, averaging 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals per game.
“It really showed in practice,” she added, thinking back on her first few months of the fall. “Even when I wasn’t getting things or catching on as quickly, it was keeping the work consistent outside of practice and inside practice. We were working on the fundamentals of things. That’s what the offseason and preseason are for, working on what we need to improve on to get to this point where we are right now.”
It also helped that it wasn’t the first time she had to adapt to change within her college career.
As a freshman at Western Texas College, Okoye made 13 starts and played in 25 games, developing quickly through WTC’s brutal league schedule. On any given night—and this was true through both seasons, Okoye noted—she was matching up with a Division I prospect. During the 2022-23 season, she went up against Clemson’s Danna Grenald, Texas Tech’s Ivana Krajina, and Houston’s Djessira Diawara, just to name a few.
“It teaches you and humbles you to take what you are given, and don’t take it for granted,” Okoye said of her experience at WTC. “We were in, I believe, the toughest conference in the nation. We were going against some Division I athletes on every team and I think that just builds your confidence in you and your team, knowing that you can compete with any level athlete. It makes you want to be better for your team and yourself, to know that you are able to go against that caliber of player.”
Her time in Snyder, Texas did wonders for her skill set as a basketball player. It also forced her to push through challenges, including a late coaching change prior to her sophomore season. After WTC went 5-21 in 2022-23, Rachel Eubank stepped into the head coaching position just two weeks prior to Okoye’s arrival for the fall semester in 2023. And with it, came a new playing style, amongst other differences, between Okoye’s freshman and sophomore years.
“It was a 180 for our team,” she remembered. “It prepares you for anything and helps you grow, to where anything that is thrown at you, I can adapt to it quickly and run with it. And see what we can do to be the best that we can be in that environment.”
She ended up being one of WTC’s most consistent contributors through the 2023-24 season, starting all 26 games, upping her points per game from 2.7 to 7.3, and her assists per game from 1.9 to 2.8. It made her all the more valuable to UMHB, who was looking to strengthen its backcourt heading into 2024-25, especially with a transfer who could make an early impact on a relatively-young team.
“As soon as I spoke to Rachel on the phone, I knew that she was our spark plug, if we could sign her,” UMHB head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir remembers. “I had watched a lot of film on her already and spoken to her coach at Western Texas College, but speaking with her over the phone, Rachel’s passion for the game and her contagious energy was apparent.”
As the spring unfolded, Okoye weighed her opportunities at hand. Some came from the Division II level. Others, like UMHB, from the Division III level. More than anything it was about fit and balance. She wanted a high-level program where she could expect to be pushed as a player, while also being encouraged to attain her academic goals.
“The culture that was here at UMHB, it just felt right,” Okoye said of making her decision. “I went on all my other visits, and I just felt like none of the schools gave it to me as straightforward [as UMHB did]. That’s what stood out to me, because I’m very big on my education and my relationship with Christ. I feel like [UMHB] really emphasizes that here.”
A pre-physical therapy major, she was well aware that her academic workload would be demanding, and along with basketball, make for a difficult balancing act at times. But that’s another area in which UMHB’s coaching staff and the university itself stood out, Okoye said.
“It was very important for me to know a school cares totally about my academic performance and understands I’m a performing athlete year-round. It goes a long way to know I have a cushion and people that will support me, and student success coordinators and student-athlete advocates as well.
“I had the choice to go D2, but I thought this was the best option for me academically and athletically because of the support [UMHB] shows to its students. I had asked around before [coming here], and this was the best option for me. I’m glad I chose it.”
Coming to UMHB also gave Okoye a unique opportunity to reunite with Amillion Fowler, her teammate at George Ranch High School three years prior. As Okoye made her decision out of WTC, Fowler had also entered the transfer portal following one year at Arkansas-Fort Smith and two at Blinn College. At that time, the two had last shared the court in February of 2021, helping George Ranch to an 11-2 district record and playoff appearance in what was Fowler’s senior season and Okoye’s junior year. When Okoye realized the kind of fit UMHB was for her, she immediately reached out to Fowler, who ended up committing not long after.
“It was fun playing with her in high school, and it definitely built our friendship and brought us closer together,” Okoye said. “Over the years, after we graduated, we’d still keep in touch, and when I committed here, I was like, ‘You’ve got to come here. I think this is the place where we can hoop together.’ She was iffy on it at first, but I kept working to convince her, because I knew the potential that she had.
“She’s been growing throughout her career, even though she hadn’t had the full chance to showcase her talent at her previous schools, I knew that here, Coach Novak and the coaches would give her the opportunity to spread her wings. We can see that she’s doing it. It’s been awesome.”
Both have made impacts of their own through the season’s first three months. Just as she did at George Ranch HS, where she was District 20-6A’s Defensive Player of the Year as a junior, Okoye’s presence on the defensive end in Belton has been notable. She is tied with Adyson James for No. 2 on the team in steals (27) and thanks to her quickness on the perimeter, is a tough matchup for opposing guards.
Okoye’s defensive contributions have helped place UMHB within the nation’s Top 50 in terms of defensive efficiency, currently sitting at No. 45 in the D3Datacast ratings. And in order to walk away from this coming week with two key ASC wins, stellar defense will be required. UMHB faces the ASC’s top-scoring team on Saturday in Abilene, as Hardin-Simmons comes into the week averaging 75.7 points per game and leading the league in 3-pointers made (142).
“I always tell my teammates that defense is what’s going to win us games,” Okoye said recently. “If you have a solid amount of people around you that can play defense, all you have to do is score the ball. That’s the easier part of the game.
“Playing defense teaches you a lot; to stay disciplined, and stay patient. That has helped me throughout high school. Even when my offensive side wasn’t doing so well for me, defense would pick that up. That’s a part of the game that will help my team, if I’m not contributing on the offensive side, I can always know I’ll have a defensive presence on the court.”
Okoye has continually made strides through her first season in Belton, and that is something Novak-Lenoir anticipates seeing more of as the season unfolds. The energy she brings each day, whether it be in practice or a game setting, is an element of UMHB’s fuel in the push for an ASC title. It’s difficult to quantify just how important Okoye’s leadership is, but there’s no question of its value to the program and her teammates around her.
“She’s a team player first, and a ball of energy in practice,” Novak-Lenoir said. “Rachel is the type of player that people love to be teammates with, because she is going to root for you, challenge you, and make you smile in those early morning practices with a dance move or two. She is the same person on the court that she is off the court, in the classroom, and wherever she goes. I am blessed to coach her and excited to see what the rest of this year and next brings for her.”
UMHB continues ASC play at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, facing Howard Payne in Brownwood, Texas. Stay tuned on TrueToTheCru.com for coverage from The Cru’s upcoming road swing through West Texas.
