Webb Plays Big Role in RiverHawks Success

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - Three years ago at Owasso High School Jasmine Webb was leading the Rams to a high school state tournament appearance.

Now a junior at Northeastern State University, the personable Webb has led the RiverHawks to a Lone Star Conference North Division championship, a top seed in the Lone Star Conference Tournament beginning Wednesday in Bartlesville and in most likelihood, a berth in the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

Webb, 5-11 center, comes from a very talented athletic family. Her father Terry was an All-American offensive lineman at the University of Oklahoma, were he played on two national championship teams and her brother Brandon, an all-state lineman from Owasso, is a redshirt freshman on the Oklahoma State University football team.

At Owasso Webb was a two-time first team All-Conference selection and a third team All-State selection, while participating in two All-State games. That type of outstanding play has continued at Northeastern State for head coach Randy Gipson.

"Jasmine has just been an outstanding player for us and has played a major role in our success here," said Gipson. "Her play the last couple of weeks has played a big part in us winning the North Division title."

Jasmine has been building a legacy of her own at Northeastern State with her play at Jack Dobbins Field House and around the Lone Star Conference. A year ago Webb averaged 14 points and 7 rebounds and 26 blocked shots. Her play earned her a slot on the Lone Star Conference All-Conference second team as a sophomore.

"My career here so far as been even better than I thought it would be," said Webb.

 This season, Webb has played a major role in the RiverHawks success as NSU has romped to a 24-5 record and 13-1 Lone Star Conference North Division record, the first outright title since 2005 for Northeastern State.

Webb, who is averaging 12 points, is the RiverHawks leading scorer and ranks No. 21 on the LSC scoring chart.  Over the past three seasons Webb is averaging 10 points, shooting .554 from the field, including .320 from behind the arc. At the free throw line she is draining .601 at the stripe and is averaging 5.5 rebounds a contest. She has 39 blocks and 39 steals in 75 games during her three years of play thus far.

She earned her second Lone Star Conference North Division Player of the Week honor last week when she averaged a double-double. Jasmine had a game-high 21 points and 14 in an 81-66 win over NSU's arch-rival Central Oklahoma to avenge the team's only league loss earlier this season.

Webb was 9-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free throw line in 29 minutes of action.

Earlier in the week, she scored 13 points in the RiverHawks' 66-52 win at Texas Woman's where she was 6-of-9 from the floor. She collected six rebounds, five of those coming on the offensive end. For the week, Webb shot a remarkable .714 from the field and .800 from the charity stripe.

In January Webb was also honored by the Lone Star Conference as Player of the Week when she was selected for her defensive play.

Webb was charged with guarding the leading scorer for Southeastern State and did so by holding her to two points, all of those coming in the final half, after the RiverHawks had built an insurmountable lead.

 Southeastern was limited to 28.0 percent shooting on the night (14 of 50), 2 of 12 from the arc, and made 19 turnovers in the 77-43 RiverHawks win.

Webb and the RiverHawks also flexed its defensive muscle at East Central, especially in the final 20 minutes, as the Tigers converted just 7 of 26 shots (26.9 percent) in the second half as NSU prevailed 90-69.

Webb selected Northeastern over Central Oklahoma right out of high school simply because "I just wanted to stay close to home so my parents could see me play. I made the right decision.

"I get a lot of support from my family. They are always there for me. It's funny because when I shoot threes my brother doesn't believe it. I usually get my points inside the paint. He says ‘"When I ‘m here why don't you ever shoot 3s.'"

"He likes watching me. He just doesn't get to come down as much. When he does he enjoys it."

The move from high school to the collegiate level for the accounting major hasn't always been a bed or roses.

At Owasso she was an offensive player and admitted "I didn't have to play much defense. I always had somebody to back me up. My game was always offense, offense and more offense. I hated defense in high school.

"Here it's different. If you don't play defense, you're on the bench. The bench is not a good place to be, so I improved my defense under coach Gipson."

"The defensive part of my game is the difference this year from last. l wasn't really very good on defense. In fact it was terrible. It's a lot better this year. I've grown up on defense," said Webb.

In the final regular season game against Southwestern State in Weatherford last Saturday, Webb led the RiverHawks in scoring with 18 points in NSU's 68-59 victory for Northeastern State's first outright North Division since 2005.  She also pulled down 9 rebounds to just miss her sixth double-double of the season.

Now she is turning her sights on the Lone Star Conference Tournament at Bartlesville which begins Thursday against Texas A&M-Kingsville. The RiverHawks and Javelinas will tip-off at 2:30 at Bartlesville High School's Bruin Field House.