PSU freshman basketball player Emily Easom is a tough competitor. Head Coach Sherri Murrell describes her as a “tenacious, competitive player.”

She is tough, all right. In fact, she is so tough that she had a successful career as a tight end and wide receiver on a Pop Warner football team in grade school and has been playing sports since she can remember.

“I'd stand in the driveway and hit the ball … just pitch it to me and I'll hit it,” she said. At the age of four, she began playing baseball.  She loves sports, which she said comes from her dad, Scott Easom, who races sailboats for a living. “Mom (Leslie Easom) always said I was my father's daughter. I'd rather be outside than anything else.”

In grade school, on the playground, she preferred to play mostly with the boys. They were playing Pop Warner football, so she wanted to play football.

“I wanted to show people that girls can play football. We can do everything boys can do,” said the determined 5-foot-10 guard out of Marin Catholic High School in San Rafael, Calif.

When she told her parents, “mom was like…are you sure? But dad just said go ahead,” she recalled.

“When I played football, I had my hair up in a knot. No one knew I was a girl. I'd take my helmet off after a game and the guys would …'what?! ...you're a girl!',” she recalled.

As she got older, she got bigger, as did the boys with whom she was playing, and her team was moved to a higher division. One day, she took a major hit after catching a pass.

“I really got cracked and it wasn't the same after that. I played scared. I'd gotten bigger, but the boys had gotten a lot bigger,” she said. It was time to quit. After all, football was not her favorite sport.  At that time, it was baseball, “not softball,” she said with emphasis.

Ironically, she did play a year of high school softball when a friend (Neika Peterson) with whom she had competed in Pop Warner football, ended up a basketball teammate in high school.

“When we were seniors, Neika said she was going to play softball instead of basketball. I said 'look, you've got to play basketball; you're an important part of the team'.  So, she said 'if I play basketball, you're coming out for softball'.  And, I have to admit that I had a blast,” she said.

Playing football was a good experience for her.

“It taught me how tough I am. It taught me that I can do anything. It taught me that nothing can stop me doing what I want,” she said.

And that shows in her approach to basketball, at which she began to show real promise in high school. She averaged 15.5 points per game and set a new school record with 61 three-pointers made as a junior. That year, she was also named first team all-league and the Marin County Girls Basketball Player of the Year by the Marin Independent Journal. She earned team MVP, was honorable mention All-Metro North Bay and shot 42-percent from the floor and 82-percent from the foul line.

Easom's approach to the game in high school was indeed tenacious.

“People didn't want me on the floor. I was too competitive. I'd do anything I could to win. If I'm on the floor, I'm going to take it to my opponent. I love being the person people want to beat. That makes it more fun when I beat them,” she said.

Her high school basketball success brought her to the attention of UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Portland State and even Princeton for a while ... "my grades and test scores (she carried a 3.7 GPA in high school) weren't good enough.”

She chose PSU because “I really liked the girls. I liked Portland and I liked the coaching staff. PSU stuck with me throughout the whole recruiting process.”

“She's a great outside shooter, a catch and shoot shooter,” said Murrell, who likens her to injured Oregon State transfer Kate Lanz. “You'd want her on your side whether you were playing gin rummy or football.”

Injuries to Lanz and others have undone what appeared early to be a promising year for the Vikings. At the same time, they have opened up playing time for Easom.  And, Murrell said she has taken advantage of the opportunity.

“She came with the skills, but it takes a while for a freshman to get used to playing at this level. It's a faster, more physical game,” said Murrell.

Since the Jan. 21 Eastern Washington game, Easom has been averaging around 30 minutes per game, for which she is grateful.

“If you hear about a freshman playing a lot of minutes, everyone in the nation knows about it. She's a real star and that definitely wasn't me. With the injuries, I've gotten a lot of playing time and I'm really thankful for that.  I didn't expect to play this much,” she said.

Agreeing with Murrell, she said it takes time to get used to the faster game. She also said that college playing floors are larger than her high school gym floor.

She gained a lot of confidence with her first start against Southern Utah (12 points, five rebounds). “I didn't have my best shooting day, but I had an all-round good game. I thought … 'I can do this'.”

Easom knows she has a way to go at the college level.

“I think I'm doing a decent job where I am right now. Consistency has always been an issue with me. You always want to be better. I'm proud of what I'm doing now, but I'm ready to go beyond that,” she said.

And that's exactly what Murrell is looking for from her.

“She's the future of PSU basketball. She could be a real star. Year after year, she's just going to get better.”