(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)
Averaging just 7.4 minutes per game as a freshman, Quinn Dornstauder found it difficult to make much of an impact in her first year of Division One college basketball.
But in her sophomore follow up, the 6-foot-4 Saskatchewan forward has found herself as an indispensable role player on an ASU team that looks ready to compete for Pac-12 supremacy.
“I couldn’t really pick one specific skill,” she responded when asked about what she worked on in the offseason. “Just working hard to get more flow with the team.”
The size has always been there, but this season we are starting to see the technique catch up with it.
She seems much more comfortable with her back to the basket, and an improved arsenal of post moves has made her a major fixture in the Sun Devil’s offensive attack.
She’s become extremely valuable to ASU because of the team’s frontcourt depth, headlined by Sophie Brunner and Kelsey Moos. Dornstauder provides size off the bench, something many Pac-12 teams can’t match, which allows her to work against opponent’s less polished and generally smaller, reserve players.
Dornstauder is averaging nearly 16 minutes a game, along with impressive 7.2 points and 5.1 rebound per game averages. A fantastic improvement over her last campaign, as she has shown that her potential as a under basket threat may have no limit.
Dornstauder started play basketball in the gyms of Regina Saskatchewan at the age of three, but a stop overseas in Europe as a teenager had a significant impact on her decision to truly dedicate herself to the game.
“That was my first taste of real, competitive basketball,” Dornstauder said, talking about her time in France in 2009. “That was kind of my breakout year, that was when I realized that I really loved basketball.”
Arizona State should be thankful for that realization, as Dornstuader has been able to develop extremely fast for a player with that little competitive experience.
While it may be near impossible to predict exactly how much of a force the towering Canadian can become by her senior year, her second act for ASU has certainly shown that she has the ability, and the work ethic to become one of the big time players in both the Pac-12 and possibly the country.
