NEW WILMINGTON — Defense has always been a mainstay for Alazia Greaves.

In her early days on the Moniteau girls basketball team, Greaves was the shutdown defender tasked with guarding the opposition's best player.

She was good at it. Very good.

Then the offense came and she finished her career with the Warriors with more than 1,000 points.

“That did make me feel good,” said Greaves, now a junior guard on the Westminster College women's basketball team. “My offense developed during my sophomore, junior and senior seasons. It showed how my game could evolve.”

It's evolved even more for the Titans, who are 16-3 overall and 9-1 in the ultra-competitive Presidents' Athletic Conference.

Greaves is still a lock-down defender for Westminster and at the center of the Titans' strong season.

“Defense definitely keeps you in there,” Greaves said, chuckling. “I remember at Moniteau guarding Brooke Hinderliter (a Redbank Valley graduate who is now a senior at Slippery Rock University). Now everyone I guard is like Brooke Hinderliter.”

Still, Greaves is making it work.

In addition to her strong defense, Greaves has added scoring punch for the Titans.

The 5-foot-7 shooting guard is coming off a 19-point game against Thiel.

Earlier in the season, she put up 20 against Kalamazoo and is averaging 8.8 points per game for a balanced Westminster offense.

Five Titans are averaging 8.8 points or more per game this season.

“I think this year we're definitely playing together as a team,” Greaves said. “We're making that extra pass. We had 28 assists (against Thiel). That's team basketball.”

Greaves enjoys the style.

On a given night, anyone can have a big game.

Sometimes it's Greaves. Sometimes it's someone else.

“Oh, it's a lot of fun,” Greaves said.

Greaves is excelling on the court and also in the classroom as a nursing major.

She has a 3.2 GPA — a number than makes her prouder than any she has produced on the basketball court — and will graduate from the Jameson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in May.

She must pass her NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) to become a registered nurse.

Greaves will still have one more year of schooling after that, however.

And one more year on the court.

Juggling basketball and a demanding major was a cause for concern at first for Greaves.

“It's actually pretty hard,” Greaves said, chuckling. “I've really had to learn time management. I usually study three to four hours after practice. It's not easy.”

Especially this semester, Greaves said.

She had some real trepidation on how she would be able to handle basketball and her coursework.

“This semester has been the hardest of all of them,” Greaves said. “I've been able to balance it all. I've been able to adjust.”

Greaves has also adjusted her game.

And her mental approach.

“The biggest thing is learning how to keep your composure,” Greaves said. “You can go from 10 points up to 10 points down in minutes. You have to be able to handle that.”

Greaves said the team as a whole has been mentally tough, winning several key games late and by a basket several times.

“We definitely have a great mindset,” Greaves said. “It's been a fun season so far.”