Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/53559
"Lexie is just very focused; she does a great job. She plays the last two minutes as she does the first two." HEAD COACH JOANNE BOYLE head coach Joanne Boyle's first Cavaliers squad. Midway through January, the third-year I from Fort Washington, Pa., was fourth on the Virginia roster in scoring (8.1 points per game), second in free throw shooting (79.2 percent) and sixth in rebounding (3.5 boards a contest). Gerson also led the Cavaliers in steals with 3.3 per game and was second in assists, dishing 2.1 a night. Yet the stats don't tell the whole story of what Gerson, who has blos- somed in less than a season under Boyle, has meant to the Cavaliers. "I'm a lot more confident this year with the new staff just because they have a lot of confidence in me," said Gerson, a gym rat who spent most of the winter break shooting. "It helps me be more confident. I had a lot of days to get in the gym because school's over." The 5-11 guard has shown a knack this season for coming up big when the Cavaliers have needed her most. That was clear on Jan. 12 when the Wahoos were struggling against in-state rival Virginia Tech at John Paul Jones Arena. Gerson came off the bench and led the Cavs with 13 points, helping Virginia turn it around and cruise to a 52-39 victory, the 800th in the program's history. "Lexie is always a spark for us," team- mate Ataira Franklin said. "She's always in the passing lanes on defense, getting us steals and getting us hyped up. She just re- ally stepped up for us and it could have been anybody — she just put us on her back. She sparked that run for us [versus Virginia Tech]." The Hokies led by seven late in the first half before the Cavaliers, led by Gerson's defensive prowess, forced 20 turnovers and took the game over. It was Gerson who hit During UVa's surprising 14-5 start, Gerson averaged 8.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.1 assists per game. PHOTO BY ANDREW SHUURTLEFF BY SHANE METTLEN F YOU LOOK AT THE STAT SHEET for the Virginia women's basketball team, you can easily tell that Lexie Gerson is among the top producers and most well rounded players on SPARK PLUG a pair of free throws in the second half that tied the game, and Virginia never looked back. "My job is to give a spark, give that en- ergy, so I take a lot of pride in that," Gerson said. "I try to make our defense our offense, and I think that's when we go on our biggest runs — when we lock down on defense and create shots off that. "We pride ourselves on our defense. We try to hold teams generally to 55 points. It's awesome to have that defense and then be successful on the offensive end." Gerson has had increasingly more success on offense, scoring in double figures eight times through Jan. 16, including a career- high 19 against Radford. And just as you might expect with a player such as Gerson, it's often her effort on defense leading to easy buckets. "Lexie is just very focused; she does a great job," Boyle said. "She plays the last two minutes as she does the first two. She comes in and flies around, she understands angles, she's long, she might not end up with eight steals, but she's probably getting eight to 10 tips a game." "She covers a lot of ground for us and just makes it difficult for people to see. I think she forces a lot of good stuff for us on the defensive end. Offensively she's been able to translate. She's calm and knocks her shot down, gets other people open and is very unselfish. It's really good to see deeper into the season and she really has become our sixth man off the bench." Third-year Lexie Gerson Has Helped Ignite The Cavaliers' Strong Start That Gerson eventually came to find such success at Virginia shouldn't come as much of a surprise when you consider what she had to overcome just to become a college basketball player. Both basketball and academics presented challenges for Gerson, who overcame both repeated knee injuries and dyslexia in high school to become one of the top recruits in the country, choosing Virginia over Duke and Connecticut, among others. Transferring to Peddie School in New Jersey during high school helped her maxi- mize her ability in the classroom and on the court and prepared her for the rigors of Virginia. "With the help of my teachers [at the Peddie School], I was able to get through things like math, which are really challeng- ing for me," Gerson told the Daily Cavalier last year. "I was able to pull off the grades I didn't think were possible, considering how hard it was for me to read through and do the schoolwork. All of the support re- ally helped me prepare for my career here at UVa." And it's paid off for both Gerson and Vir- ginia, which appeared on track for a return to the NCAA Tournament. But if the Cava- liers are to complete the program's turn- around, they will need Gerson to continue her solid work on both ends of the floor. "I'm a naturally optimistic person," Ger- son said. "Whenever I am given the oppor- tunity to play, I'm going to do what I can to help the team be successful." ◆ FEBRUARY 2012 ◆ 21