By Brendan Straub
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
It’s March 16, 2019. Standing on the floor of the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Delaware, you’re holding a championship trophy in your hands as confetti plummets from the rafters and your teammates swarm you in a celebration. But this isn’t just any trophy — it’s the Colonial Athletic Association conference tournament trophy.
It’s the first conference tournament victory in program history and secures your team’s berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
This was the scene for Kionna Jeter, Towson’s standout guard.
Eight months later later, with a season starting anew, Jeter is ready for her encore. It will be a hard act to follow for the redshirt junior, coming off a season in which she led Towson and the CAA in scoring (17.3 points per game).
Jeter almost didn’t have this opportunity. In 2018, while at Gulf Coast State College, she was traveling home to a funeral in her hometown of Spartanburg, S.C., when she was hit by two bullets in a drive-by shooting. She fractured her shoulder blade, leaving her out of basketball for the rest of the season.
Jeter responded quickly in a two-month recovery period and began to play basketball again when she transferred to Towson before the 2018-2019 season, even with bullet fragments still lodged in her left shoulder. Jeter’s strength and perseverance earned her the John Randolph Inspiration Award from the CAA this past July.
Jeter and the women’s basketball team begin their quest to repeat in non-conference play against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Tuesday. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tipoff at SECU Arena.
Jeter said she does not feel there is added pressure because of the conference title and scoring title.
“I mean it’s going to be the same,” Jeter said. “I know how to score so that is where a lot of my momentum comes in to my offense which leads also to my defense.”
Jeter finished the year with 572 points, second most in program history in a single season. She was named to the All-CAA first team. She also led the team and the CAA in steals, averaging 2.7 per game and was also named to the CAA All-Defensive Team.
Jeter wants to continue to show everyone that she can be a dynamic playmaker even if she is considered a small guard at 5 feet 8 inches.
“I can do a lot of things that small guards can’t do,” Jeter said. “Such as being explosive off the pull-up, shoot a three, rebound. Just be an all-around player.”
Jeter hopes to help the Tigers on the road back to the CAA title game. Towson is projected to finish third in the conference behind James Madison and Drexel. The Tigers bring back a lot of talent to this year’s squad as their second leading scorer Nukiya Mayo and explosive guard Q. Murray also return to the starting lineup.
Four players, including freshman sensation Janeen Camp, have left the program, leaving some questions marks for this year’s squad. Head coach Diane Richardson will look to leadership from Jeter.
Even with the emotions of the CAA title and the amount of transfers from last year’s team, assistant coach Cheyenne Curley feels leaders like Jeter can be helpful for some of their young players.
“She works hard on and off the court and shows the young ones how you are supposed to play and practice each and every day,” Curley said. “She is a vital piece in our team.”