After sitting out all of last season with a shoulder injury to her right arm, redshirt-senior and co-captain Meredith Kennedy wasn't sure how her last season on the Tiger women's basketball team would turn out.
"I didn't know if I would make it past the first practice to be honest," Kennedy said.
Three games into the 2011-2012 campaign, and Kennedy is leading the Tigers in minutes played, points scored, steals and three-pointers made.
"It's not bothering me at all. I'm so thankful," Kennedy said of her shoulder. "I'm feeling the same old bumps and bruises as usual, but I'm feeling great other than that."
Before this season, Kennedy had only scored in double figures once in her career. In the first three games this season Kennedy has scored in double figures twice, averaging almost 11 points a game for a total of 32 points on the year.
"It was a huge concern for me coming in obviously because it's my shooting arm. I thought it would throw off my shot a little bit but apparently not," Kennedy said of the injury. "I thank my doctor every day."
Kennedy has played a total of 82 minutes in three starts for the Tigers, averaging just over 27 a game. She also has made seven three-pointers and is shooting .636 from behind the arc.
The guard is just one of seven returners for the Tigers, who also have seven new players on their roster, six of who are freshman.
"In the beginning it was tough because half of our team is new so it took a while to learn each other's strength and weaknesses and for them to learn all the ins and outs of our offense and defense,"
Kennedy said.
"It took about a month and a half for us to gel together," she said.
The Tigers are 2-1, with CAA play starting in two weeks when Towson faces off against James Madison. In just their second game, the Tigers played national powerhouse Maryland, currently ranked eighth in the AP Top 25. Next week, they will head to Storrs, Connecticut to play the second-ranked Huskies.
Kennedy views the Maryland contest and the trip to play UConn, one of the most storied women's basketball programs in the country, as great learning experiences for a team she has "high hopes for the remainder of the season."
"Our overall drive and want to win has changed," Kennedy said of the team's difference in culture. "Our attitude approaching games and practice, lifting, what have you are, completely different. Last year was maybe a little bit more negative. This year it is more positive and driven towards the same goal."
Towson plays back to back home games at the Towson Center, Tuesday and Sunday, before heading to UConn. Starting December 4, the Tigers will play three games in seven days, two of which are away contests.
"I want to go out on a positive note," Kennedy said. "I've been injured the past four years and haven't really had the same opportunities that I am getting now to play and I just want to make the most of it."
