TOWSON, Md. - For Deree Fooks, the 2011-2012 season began in the office of Head
coach Joe Mathews. It was the end of her first year with the program, after transferring from Monroe Community College, and Mathews told her to start preparing for her senior year during their end of season meeting.

As a junior with the Tigers, Fooks played in all 30 games, starting 18 and averaging eight points a contest, but both Mathews and Fooks knew the enhanced role she would have to play for the Tigers to be competitive the following year. So Fooks worked hard in the
off-season and slowly became one of the most impactful players on the court for Towson.

“Last year it was my first year, I didn’t know the system,” Fooks said, of the tough transition. “This year I know what coach is looking for and I get to be out there during crunch time, whereas last year I wasn’t.”

In the past 10 games Fooks has really turned it up, averaging just over 13 points a game, averaging 33 and half minutes, and grabbing almost nine rebounds. Since the January 26 game against George Mason, the fewest points Fooks has scored in a game is eight, with her high during that span 20, which she accomplished twice.  In the same time period she has also amassed 86 total rebounds, 10 blocks, 19 steals, and shot 31 of 37 from the free throw line.

“It makes the games more fun for me and is something that when you are a senior you always want to step up in a big way,” Fooks said.

Fooks has led the Tigers in scoring eight games this season, five of which were in the last ten games. In 14 games this year, she led the team in rebounds, with her season-high of 16 coming against Georgia State the first week of February.

That overtime win against the Panthers was extra special for Fooks, as she along with fellow seniors Krystal Parnell and Sheree Ledbetter combined to score all of Towson’s points in the extra period.

The senior, who spends time playing guard as well as a forward for the Tigers, is one of only two players to start all 28 games for Towson this year.  She ranks third on the squad in minutes played and points scored, while her 195 total rebounds lead the team.

“Sometimes it is really confusing,” Fooks said of splitting time at guard and at forwad. “At the beginning it was really confusing but then as the season went on I finally adjusted to it. Now I’m really comfortable knowing both positions.”

Her presence on the boards was especially important after Nyree Williams went down with an injured hand. Now back in the lineup, Williams has a cast on her left hand, limiting what she can do. For Fooks, this is when she realized that being down a post player
translated into fewer rebounds for the Tigers.

“I felt like I had to get in there and play an even bigger role,” she said.

With the post-season Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament rapidly approaching, Fooks knows this role is what will give her and her team the most success.

“I’ve just got to get in there and keep rebounding.”