Amy Lewis Continues to Leave Mark at Troy

by Travis Jarome
Troy University, Asst. Dir. of Media Relations

TROY, Alabama – The city of Hamilton, Australia is thousands of miles away from Troy University, but the NCAA Division I-A school that is located in southeastern Alabama has become home for an Australian basketball star over the last three-plus years.

Trojans guard Amy Lewis is currently one of five Australians playing for the Trojans, and remembers when she was recruited to play in the states.

“At home every year when you grow up in under-16s and under-18s we have national championships,” Lewis said. “That is when you get together in any state, you pick a group of 10 girls and go to one place to play in the national championships. It is a pretty big deal in Australia, and I was recruited from there to come to Troy.”

The recruiting process has paid off for the Trojans and Lewis.

This season, alone, she is the third leading scorer in the Sun Belt Conference, and the 53rd leading scorer in the country averaging 17.4 points per game.

The senior is also listed as the 30th-best three-point field goal shooter in the country, connecting on 41.3 percent of her shots from long range.

However, Lewis was not always known as a three-point threat growing up in Australia.

“Growing up I was never known as a three-point shooter,” Lewis said. “I have always been able to penetrate the defense with the basketball. I have always felt that when you get to that next level that you have to bring something else to your game. I thought for me to be able to extend my game was to be able to hit the three-pointer.”

The senior is also listed as the 97th best shooter in the nation from the floor, connecting on 47.4 percent of her shots. Lewis has missed six or fewer shots seven times this season, including connecting on 6-of-7 of her shots from the floor against Belhaven in just 22 minutes of action on November.

The ability to connect on her shots comes with a lot of work, according to Lewis.

“At training we work on three-point shooting a lot,” Lewis said. “We have five minute three-point shooting drills, we do that at least two or three times at training. I think that has really helped me get more arc on more shot, which is helping it go in. I have hit a couple of three-pointers in a few games, and then you think about what the other coaches are saying about not letting me shoot the three, so I think that is where my driving has opened up a bit.”

The transition for Lewis was not as tough as some would think, as she proved to be a seasoned veteran after competing against women older than she was in league play.

“Each year has gotten easier to adapt to the style of game,” Lewis said. “Coming in as a freshman I really had no idea what to expect, what the type of competition was going to be like. Here you come in against people your own age, and it is a lot more physical and a faster style of game.”

With the transition, the expectations have started to rise for Lewis who has scored 1,434 career points at Troy.

“Throughout the years it has gotten easier to adapt to the style of play,” Lewis said. “But at the same time I have had a lot more responsibilities inside the team with being a team captain. With that comes the pressure of having to perform on a daily basis. At the same time of having to adapt to the style of game, the pressure has been tough.”

Although the expectations are high day in and day out for Lewis, she consistently turns to her teammates each game to help meet those expectations.

“It is a team game,” Lewis said. “To have one or two good players, it is very easy to shut those teams down. So it is very important as a team to have more than two players who can score, and have one inside. You can put your best defender on those players, and if that player doesn’t have a good game than that team has been shut down.”

The senior had a career game earlier in the season against Western Kentucky, who also has one of the nation’s leading scorers in Crystal Kelly. In that game, Lewis went 10-of-16 from the floor and scored a career-high 29 points.

The game against the Lady Toppers was sort of like a coming-out party for Lewis, although she is all ready in her senior season.

“I have been coaching for 22 years with 11 of those in women’s basketball,” Troy head coach Michael Murphy said. “When I was at Alabama, we had All-Americans and players who went onto play in the WNBA. She is playing, right now, as good as anybody I have ever coached in women’s basketball. She is been nothing but spectacular this entire year.”

Lewis has helped make the transition easier for the other four Australians who joined her three seasons ago at Troy.

“Their first year was my second year so I think it made it easier for them,” Lewis said. “I had been here, done some things, so I could help them out with things they were unsure of. Now they have been here for three years, so I think they know what it is all about it. We are coming together now, and on the court we are coming together better as team. It doesn’t matter that we are Australian anymore, we are players of Troy.”

Lewis continues her assault on the record books as her career is winding down. With just 9 regular season games remaining, Lewis is eighth all-time in scoring and is only 54 points from moving up two places on the list. She also is nearing the top 25 in the Sun Belt Conference in all-time scoring, having scored 1062 points in just two-plus seasons in the conference.

*Note: Amy Lewis missed Troy's last game on January 27th with a foot injury, breaking her consecutive starting streak of 104 games. She is expected to be back in the line-up for Troy's upcoming game against Louisiana-Monroe on January 31st (Feb 1 Australia).

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