The women’s basketball team suffered a major loss last season with the loss of star guard Hannah Womack who finished her Wildcat career. Although one star has left them, another has emerged with sophomore shooting guard Whitney Branham leading the team to a 5-2 overall record so far.

While both Womack and Branham have been leaders for their team, head coach Brian Fogel believes their play and leadership styles to be very different.

“Hannah was more verbal and outspoken, whereas Whitney is able to lead through her passionate level of play,” Fogel said.

Branham’s role as a leader has already improved her play, as her points and steals per game have risen since last season and her turnovers have dropped. From last year, Branham’s points per game have risen from 10 to 11.3 and her steals have jumped from .7 to 1.5.

In comparison to Branham’s stats this year, Womack averaged similar numbers in her final season, with 13.6 points per game and 1.5 steals per game. Womack averaged more turnovers with 2.4 per game, while Branham currently averages 1.0 per game.

Branham has been moved to the shooting guard position this season to replace Womack, but previously started as a point guard. Branham believes this experience helped her in her ability to read the floor and give her teammates more opportunities to score.

While Branham’s experience as a point guard has helped her ability to read the floor and set up her teammates, it also limited her ability to shoot the ball. Branham considers herself to be a scorer and found difficulty suppressing her shot.

“The point guard position helped me, but I feel more like a shooting guard. I feel like I can score when the team needs me to,” Branham said.

While Branham has seen improvement in her game, her teammates have also recognized her success as a leader and a player. Former teammate Annie Ward noted Branham’s improvement since last season.

“Branham was talented last year, but she has had an opportunity to expand on her game and she has taken it,” Ward said. “She is stepping up to help the team.”

With Branham’s performance paving the way for Wildcat victory, the team hopes to make it to conference playoffs.

“With the way we are playing, I think it’s possible that we can make it to the playoffs and be a strong contender,” Fogel said.

Kenta McAfee can be reached at [email protected] or @Kentamcafee on Twitter.