In a way, Harley Holloway felt like a freshman again.

The Freeport graduate got only a small sampling of what college basketball would be like last season, her first at Wooster. Because covid-19 lopped off a significant portion of the schedule, the Fighting Scots played only eight games — losing them all.

So when Holloway returned to the Ohio campus for her sophomore season, she still was in learning mode.

“I still kind of felt a little bit like a freshman,” Holloway said. “We’re playing so many teams I’ve never seen or heard of before, so it’s pretty new.”

She has proven to be a quick study. Through the Fighting Scots’ first 12 games, Holloway was leading the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game. Wooster had won three games, including two of its four North Coast Athletic Conference games.

Holloway started 11 of those 12 games and posted a personal best 25 points in a narrow loss to Spalding on Nov. 20 during Wooster’s Nan Nichols Classic, for which she was named all-tournament. She also made the all-tournament team at the Jim Neagle Holiday Classic at Marietta.

“I’ve just been trying to work on my speed and my defense,” the 5-foot-5 guard said, “and trying to work the ball a little bit on offense.”

On top of still getting accustomed to the college level, Holloway also had to adjust to a new coach.

Mary Kate Tierney was hired in July, and she admitted she didn’t know a lot about her players’ capabilities. She knew only that a large portion of her roster — eight of the 14 players are freshmen or sophomores — was still green.

“This group has been very receptive, and they’re a bunch of really smart, hard-working young women,” Tierney said. “These kids just haven’t played. Harley is a great example. … She didn’t really get a chance to get up and down (the floor) and realize the physicality of college basketball.”

The Scots are getting a much better idea of that now. But the team’s relative youth and inevitable learning curve of being under a new coaching regime have led to some inconsistencies.

Holloway is confident those flaws will be ironed out as the players get to know each other better and compete in more games. Tierney’s presence, she said, also has buoyed the team.

“I think we already are a lot better than we were last year,” Holloway said. “I feel like our team is a lot more consistent than last year with a lot of things. Last year, our practices were … iffy, I guess. It feels like this year it has been pretty good mostly all year. … It’s always fun to be there. I love being there.”

And Tierney loves having Holloway as part of her building project.

“Harley just never stops working, and she’s definitely a gamer,” Tierney said. “There’s no ‘die’ in Harley. She’s just going to keep fighting. And with this group right now, one of our bigger issues is scoring the basketball, and thank goodness Harley is on our team because we really would have struggled even more.

“She is able to create for herself in a way that she’s just able to get open looks.”

Holloway said the hope is the Fighting Scots have ramped up their skill and chemistry enough to make a strong showing in the NCAC. Now with 20 games of college experience under her belt, she is intent on playing a big role in that quest.

“I just love playing the game,” she said. “Being able to score, it’s a good feeling being able to help out the team get a win. Definitely win some more conference games, and I’m thinking we can do that.

“I’m just hoping to get a good year out of it and have some fun.”

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