CSU-Pueblo women’s basketball rounds out signing class with point guard

ThunderWolves add Mesa Community College point guard Locke.

PUEBLO, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com – May 17, 2012) – The CSU-Pueblo women's basketball program has concluded its 2012 signing class with the addition of seasoned point guard Jenay Locke (Jr., Gilbert, Ariz.), a junior-college veteran from Mesa Community College.

Locke helped lead Mesa to a national finish of 5^th in the NJCAA National Tournament in 2012 while running the point, averaging 5.9 points per game, 4.3 assists per game and 1.9 steals per game.  The 5-foot-6 point guard will enter CSU-Pueblo as a junior next season.

"Jenay is a true point guard," Kori Stephenson, Locke's head coach at Mesa, said.  "Since I have been at Mesa, all of our point guards have gone mid to low Division I and I believe that Jenay is the best one we have ever had."

Locke will help fill a vacuum left at guard left by the graduation of departing all-conference seniors, Kendall Babler and Jennelle Branting.  Only one starter, junior Alex Evans, returns in the backcourt.

"There is certainly an opening at the guard positions and we envision Jenay fitting nicely at the one-position," Pack coach Kip Drown said, as she expects to join with Evans to run the backcourt. 

Locke is the latest member of a 2012 signing class that includes another guard, Pueblo West High School graduate, Dee Arrieta (Fr., Pueblo West, Colo.), and a versatile forward from Texas, Meghan White (Fr., Georgetown, Texas).

Arrieta, a 5-foot-4 guard who helped lead Pueblo West High School to the Colorado state semifinals in 2012, is a natural shooter, averaging 15.6 points per game as a junior and 14.1 points per game as a senior.  Drown said Arrieta will battle for time in the backcourt, playing the one or the two-position.   

White, a 6-foot-1 forward, is the latest college-bound forward from a storied program at Georgetown High School in Georgetown, Texas.  A starter during her senior year, she played behind LSU-bound Krystal Forthan during her junior season.  During White's senior campaign, she helped lead Georgetown to a 28-5 record and a spot in the Texas State Tournament. 

Drown said the ThunderWolves' signing class consists of strong competitors from winning pedigrees that will make strong impacts on the basketball program.

"We have a very strong team and I feel these additions will help make us even stronger," Drown said.  "Some may make immediate impacts, others more down the road, but I expect all three to put a positive stamp on our program."