In high school, she led her team to the Wyoming 4A All-State Championship game with an overall record of 22-5. She was voted three-time Wyoming All-State and an All-Conference selection. She always went on the court to give her 110 percent. Senior forward Kayla Woodward has been a Cowgirl since long before her first game in brown and gold in 2011.
The Sheridan High School graduate came to the Cowgirls basketball team as a freshman with infinite potential. Alongside senior guard Kaitlyn Mileto, Woodward started in 28 of 29 games in her freshman season. Woodward and Mileto have been changing the dynamic of Cowgirls basketball since they stepped foot on the court.
In their senior year, Cowgirls head coach Joe Legerski looks to the duo to lead.
“First of all, they’re tremendous scorers,” head coach Joe Legerski said. “Both are in the 1,000 point club, they’ve been starting since their freshman year. With that being said, we’re looking for leadership from them. Not only on the court, but off the court.”
Woodward, a 4.0 high school graduate and an Academic All-MWC honoree two years in a row, likes to consider her leadership style as less vocal, and more of a lead-by-example type.
“I think I’ve done pretty good at just showing the underclassman how to play out there,” said Woodward. “Just play aggressive and to keep trying.”
Woodward’s success both on and off court has been a tribute to all her hard work here at UW, and her basketball career has yielded countless awards as a Cowgirl. But if you ask her, she credits it to the team.
“Its all about the team’s success,” Woodward said. “Team success brings individual success and awards.”
This season Woodward is hoping that the team’s success leads them back to the Mountain West Conference finals, and ends with a championship.
“I just wan to put it all on the floor,” Woodward said. “You don’t wan to have any regrets so you just have to try your hardest every time you go out there.”
The Cowgirls look to use the first outing as a confidence booster and to start their potential filled freshman on the right foot. Coach Legerski believes that game one gave many of the Cowgirls’ freshman a chance to get their feet wet, but also says there is a very long road ahead of them.
“I think our backcourt is very strong,” Coach Legerski said looking forward to the oncoming 2014-15 season. “Marquelle Dent’s improved from a year ago. Kaitlyn, Kayla have played extremely well. Throughout the year there’s a surprise and you never know where that’s coming from. We have some talented freshman. But you don’t know where that surprise is gonna happen. But if you ask me in another month, somebody will emerge.”
Cowgirl fans can expect to see a lot of minutes from players that have grown to be their favorites, Woodward, Mileto and Dent will all get their minutes back up into the thirties soon, according to Coach Legerski. Freshmen recruits Bailee Cotton, Marleah Campbell and Liv Roberts made quite an impression as their debut in the Dome of Doom, but fans and team members alike will have to wait and see how these players develop.
Friday, the Cowgirls will host the Denver Pioneers in the Arena Auditorium where Coach Legerski hopes to showcase their recent emphasis on the defensive end.
“Denver’s guards are very talented. Its gonna be a matchup of veteran guards,” Coach Legerski said. “They can shoot the ball from distance, they like to play in transition. So it’s a mirror image of seeing what we do, to seeing what Denver does, so it should be an exciting game for our fans.”
