The women’s basketball team prides itself on defense, hustle, energy and toughness, and redshirt sophomore forward Jenna Thorp embodies all these traits.

This is something every coach wants in their players. Head coach Kathi Bennett has done well getting the most out of players, but as Bennett will admit, her players’ hard work and determination makes this task much easier.

Thorp embodies all of the aforementioned attributes with her hard-nosed style of play. The 5-foot-11-inch Hinckley native had an impressive high school career at Hinckley-Big Rock High School. As a senior, Thorp averaged 15 points and 8.3 rebounds and managed 12.4 points per game for her career. She also holds Hinckley Big Rock’s record for points in a career. Thorp finds her best offense comes when she’s not playing with her back to the basket.

“I feel like I’m better facing the basket, I like to dish it into our bigs, and if they square up and don’t have a look they can kick out,” Thorp said. “I like the two dribble pull-up, that’s usually more of my game.”

After coming back from a torn ACL in the summer of 2010, Thorp made her debut with the Huskies in the 2011-12 season, playing in 30 games and starting in 20. Thorp averaged 4.3 points and 3.77 rebounds per game. Now in her second year with the Huskies, Thorp has become an instrumental part of the team with her ability to crash the boards and nose for the ball.

Bennett is proud of Thorp’s energy this season.

“Shes kind of an X-factor player; she’s the one that is always making the extra effort to get on the offensive glass, the extra effort for rebounds and loose balls,” Bennett said. “I mean, look at her legs–she’s bruised everywhere. I think she brings an incredible amount of hustle and X-factor to the table. Any 50-50 ball, she’s the one to go after it, and I just think she’s got great heart.”

Thorp had arguably one of her best games this season against Miami. She led the team in points with 16 and rebounds with eight. This season, Thorp has averaged 6.1 points, 4.8 rebounds per game and has shot just more than 31 percent from behind the three point line. Bennett has been excited to see Thorp develop as the regular season winds down.

“She’s really worked on her offensive game and I feel that she’s another one that has gotten a lot better,” Bennett said. “I think she’s going to be one of our leaders in the future. She’s one of our hardest workers and she’s gaining valuable experience and I think when you play and you perform, then that gives you a platform. Now that she’s doing really good things on the floor it’s going to give her a platform to be an even better player.”

As of now, Bennett and the Huskies are still focused on this year and having a strong finish to what has been a tough season. Their next game will be at home this Thursday against Eastern Michigan where the Huskies will look to get their first home win since December. Thorp and the Huskies will need to be at the top of their game to set the tone going into the MAC tournament.