California (Pa.) women's basketball guard Nina Shaw, a Knoch graduate, takes the ball up the court in a recent college basketball game. Submitted photo

SLIPPERY ROCK — After snaring a defensive rebound, Nina Shaw took off with the basketball, dribbling coast to coast before laying the ball in while being fouled Saturday at Slippery Rock University.

The Knoch graduate failed to complete the three-point play, but California (Pa.) University women’s basketball coach Jess Strom liked what she saw.

Shaw, who was relegated to a bench role two weeks ago after beginning the season as the Vulcans’ starting point guard, played 17 minutes in Cal’s 79-56 victory at SRU. That included all but a minute of the fourth quarter, a period in which the Vulcans outscored The Rock 26-9.

Shaw played only eight minutes during the first three quarters before her game kicked into gear in the fourth.

“Anybody who plays the way I want her to play isn’t being taken off the floor,” Strom said. “Nina was outstanding in that last quarter.”

Only a sophomore, Shaw leads the Vulcans (13-10, 9-7 in PSAC West) with 71 assists. No one else on the team has more than 43. But she’s turned the ball over 56 times on the season and is shooting a mere 46% at the foul line. She was an 80% foul shooter at Knoch and was an All-WPIAL player.

Standing 5-foot-4, Shaw is the shortest player on the floor in virtually every collegiate game she plays in. But that’s not the issue.

“Her size is more of a problem for the people guarding her,” Strom said. “Nina is so quick. She just gets around them and flies right past them.”

“My issue is basically getting my confidence back, and I’m working on that,” Shaw said. “In high school, you can get away with leaving the other players on the team go and just do your own thing. I can’t do that here.

“I’m trying to be more of a leader, be more vocal on the floor. Coach wants me to be the leader out there. That’s the nature of the position. It’s my responsibility to make sure everyone is where she’s supposed to be offensively and defensively, to run things. That’s an adjustment for me.”

California (Pa.) women's basketball guard Nina Shaw, a Knoch graduate, takes the ball up the court in a recent college basketball game. Submitted photo

Shaw started for Cal as a freshman, averaging 7.9 points and 4.2 assists per game. She was averaging 5.0 points and 3.5 assists this year before being taken out of the starting lineup.

That doesn’t mean Strom has given up on her as starter. The coach merely sees the move as a step in Shaw’s development.

“I like to recruit a freshman point guard and develop her,” the coach said. “Being a former point guard myself, I know what I want out of that position. Nina and I have talked many times. She knows where I stand and what I see in her.”

When asked if she felt Shaw could become one of the top point guards in the PSAC, Strom replied: “That’s the goal. She has all of the tools: competitiveness, quickness, ability to see the floor. ... She has the qualities you can’t teach. One thing that can’t be questioned is her work ethic. Nina’s the hardest worker on the team.

“She was struggling in certain areas this season, and I had to get her attention. Spending time on the bench can do that. Let her see the game.”

Strom is a Steel Valley graduate and member of the WPIAL Hall of Fame. She scored over 1,000 points and produced 750 assists as a four-year starter at Penn State. She is in her 14th year as Vulcans head coach and needs six wins to reach 300 in her career.

“I’m learning a lot from her, especially from a leadership standpoint,” Shaw said. “I know what she expects of me, and it’s up to me to get there.”

Strom admitted Shaw “isn’t very vocal, it’s just her personality, but she’s becoming more assertive.”

As Shaw elevates her caliber of play, she believes her effectiveness as a team leader will come around.

“I’m in the process of piecing my game back together again,” she said. “It’s a process. I’ve only been coming off the bench for three or four games now and I’m still getting used to that.

“I have to earn my spot in the lineup back. Today was definitely a strep in that direction.”