A player that stands 5-foot-9 is usually not expected to lead a team in rebounds. Conventional wisdom says players with that stature handle their roles away from the inside scrum.
But on a team where most of the height resides with the inexperienced and younger players, redshirt senior guard Tenishia Benson has excelled in a different facet.
In the past season, Benson had at least a share of the team lead in rebounding in 18 of the 29 games that she played.
So far this season, Benson is hauling in similar numbers. She has had at least a share of the team lead for rebounds in 10 of her 20 games played.
Ohio coach, Semeka Randall, said the skill of rebounding is something that cannot be taught, it is more intangible — the will to beat out the opposition.
“It’s all heart and effort,” Randall said. “(Benson) just has a knack for when people take shots, knowing where the ball is going to come off the (basket).
“That’s a gift. You can’t teach that. You can tell people the area to be in, but she knows exactly where to go.”
Randall said she is impressed with Benson’s ability to secure rebounds that are out of her reach.
The notion of being quick to the ball was instilled in Benson at a young age by her father.
“For a long time, I could jump over people. I can’t do that now,” Benson said. “So I figured I’d just be quicker. My dad made that a point of emphasis in my game to be better. It’s carried over and became a habit.”
Benson’s habit of rebounding has been honed by wanting the ball more than the opposing players. But the other side of that is being in the right place at the right time.
“I was always taught to follow the ball,” Benson said. “You should be able to anticipate, if you are a shooter, you should have a good (chance), even if it’s a 50 percent chance of rebounding the ball. I beat people to the spot. I beat people before they even get a chance.”
Despite her success, Benson said as a guard she is often not in the best position to grab a board.
“I think it’s because of the position that I am rebounding from is making it difficult,” she said.
Benson has become the model for how teammates are expected to rebound, Randall said.
“She is a model of challenges for her because we haven’t been doing well at rebounding,” she said. “In the conference somebody competes and tries to beat her because if you are doing that, that’s providing a lot of extra rebounds for us.”
Even though Randall tells her players that they should rebound like Benson, Benson does not view herself as the model rebounder.}
“When they get their rebounds, it’s their heart, and they’re in the right positions,” Benson said. “Its more offering encouragement … encouraging them to whatever they did, however they did it, do it again.”
But pulling down rebounds is not enough for Benson. In fact, she said grabbing rebounds gives her more incentive to score.
“I want to score. I want to get my team some extra points, get that and-one,” Benson said. “If you want to do that, you have to put the work in.”
In the next couple games, Benson will have the chance to earn 1,000 points for her career while playing at Cincinnati and Ohio.
nr225008@ohiou.edu
