A quick study
Freshman Achesinski making waves for Lakers

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By Mike Kilroy
Eagle Staff Writer

SLIPPERY ROCK — Amy Achesinski is not your typical freshman.
Then again, there has never been anything typical about her game.
Achesinski's moves under the hoop are the same these days as a first-year player for Mercyhurst College. They are only better.
She is leaner. She is stronger. And the Butler High graduate is putting up some startling numbers just four games into her collegiate career.
Did Lakers coach Deanna Richard expect this so soon? The first-year coach answered in just one word.
"No," she said.
"She's a great leader, too," Richard added. "She scores. She's mobile. She rebounds. There's not much more you can expect from her. She'll get better. I'm kind of scared to see how much better she's going to get."
So is the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West, a league Mercyhurst will join next season.
Through four games, Achesinski is averaging 17.5 points and 10 rebounds per games. She put up 22 points and four rebounds in a 71-61 loss to Slippery Rock University Monday night.
Rock coach Laurel Heilman recruited Achesinski relentlessly, but couldn't snag the 6-foot-1 star.
"She gets in front of you, good luck," Heilman said. "No. 1, you can't let her touch the ball. I can't tell you how many games I saw her play (at Butler). She was my No. 1 all-time (recruit). The only good thing in missing out on her was we would only have to face her once a year if we wanted to. Now they are coming into the league."
Achesinski made a difficult choice 24 months ago.
Many more established schools, both in Division I and in Division II, were gunning for her, but she chose to sign early with Mercyhurst — a program that had won 17 games the previous three seasons.
She did so because of the promise to play early and to be a part of building program.
Achesinski was one of two freshmen in the starting lineup for the Lakers Monday night. The others were two sophomores and a junior.
Mercyhurst is 1-3 after the loss to SRU, butAchesinski sees the potential of something great happening at the school in downtown Erie.
"We're extremely young," Achesinski said. "We don't use that as an excuse but as something to feed off of. We want to make a better program than was there before."
Achesinski has already assumed a leadership role on her new team. That's nothing new, though. For four years at Butler, where she scored 1,525 points and started every game, she was a leader.
Knowing that a large part of the offense would be heaped on her shoulders, she worked to get stronger and quicker.
That meant countless hours in the weight room.
"Part of it is just stepping up to this level," she said. "Preseason was hard. Two-a-days, always working out. Everyone on the team worked just as hard as I did."
Still, Achesinski wasn't anticipating this kind of start for herself.
It has been tempered, though, but the losing.
"I'm glad I'm playing well — I didn't think I'd been scoring this much — but, it's not coming with a win. I won't be satisfied until we start winning more games."