VESTAL -- As an eighth-grader, Rachel Laws had no desire to play basketball. She was still in gymnastics withdrawal, forced to give up her favorite sport because of a four-inch growth spurt in a one-year span, and all she needed was older sister Ivy nagging her to play ball.

Binghamton University sophomore small forward Rachel Laws has scored in double figures in 15 straight games and is averaging team bests of 14.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for the Bearcats.

JIM SANCHEZ / Press & Sun-Bulletin

LAWS

Laws' Stock on the Rise * Vitals: Sophomore, 5-foot-9, small forward * Moving on up: Laws didn't move into the starting lineup until the final nine games of last season. In those games, she averaged 9.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, establishing her as one of the team's best players. She's started every game this season. * First glance: After games, Laws' first look at the box score goes directly to the turnover column. She has 58 this season, second-most on the team. Laws still is adjusting to handling the ball -- she was a post throughout high school. "In high school, I got the passes from the guards. It wasn't me passing. I didn't really pass it back. When you're a foot away from the basket, you're taught you're scoring the basket." * Winning mentality: Laws lost only seven games during four years at Cheltenham High School (Pa.), and she helped the team win a Class AAAA state title in 2000 and was runner-up in 1999. Last season, her first at BU, the Bearcats lost 17 games. * Major: Undeclared, although Laws said she's "soon to be declared" an African studies major. -- STACY CLARDIE

Sure, Ivy loved the game, she was good. She started for Cheltenham (Pa.) High School as a freshman and was one of the team's best players.

Rachel, though, thought about joining the diving team, which would enable her to cling a bit longer to her gymnastics background. She'd done most events in that sport for seven years, excelling at vault and floor because of her excellent leaping ability.

That athleticism is what Ivy thought would be a great asset on the basketball court, and father Dan agreed. He knew a bit about basketball, too, having played at Temple in the mid-1960s. And then Rachel's friends and basketball coach at Cedar Brook Middle School got into the act.

Rachel still wasn't so sure, but the pressure was just too much. Begrudgingly, she agreed.

"I was like, 'Fine. I'll play basketball,' " she said. "I was terrible. I was so bad because I had never played organized basketball in my life. I airballed foul shots. It was really bad. I was a center. They would just throw me the ball and I'd just jump because I could always jump because of gymnastics. I would just jump and throw it up there.

"It was a sight to see."

In the end, though, big sis was right.

Seven years later, Rachel Laws has showcased athleticism rivaled by few who have played women's basketball at Binghamton University. That talent helps her get to the basket from anywhere on the floor, defend opposing teams' top offensive threats and sky for rebounds.

Easier put, it's helped her become the most consistent player on a Bearcats' team that already has won more games than it did all of last season. She's averaging team-highs of 14.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Her 15-point effort in Saturday's loss to Maine was her 15th straight game in double figures.

"She's been instrumental to the start we've had," BU coach Rich Conover said. "I think now people have a sense that Rachel is developing into that type of go-to player for us in crunch time.

"I feel her teammates have confidence in her and know that game in, game out she's going to put up solid numbers. So I think that's a comforting feeling for her teammates when they're on the court with her that, 'OK, we know Rachel is giving us this, what else can we do to lend to the game?' "

GETTING AFTER IT

Leah Truncale knows a little something about rebounding.

During her four seasons as a starter at BU, Truncale posted a school record 978 rebounds and would easily have reached 1,000 had she not torn multiple ligaments in her left knee as a senior and missed 12 games.

So when Truncale, now a graduate assistant coach, admits she routinely has 'did-that-just-happen?' moments watching Laws, it's saying a lot.

Moments where a shot appears to come off the rim at the exact wrong angle to have a chance at a rebound, but all of a sudden, out reaches a hand to snatch it up. Or when there's a crowd waiting under the basket to corral a board and someone decides 'why wait?' and simply leaps higher than everyone to grab it.

Laws does these things on a regular basis. She has what Conover and teammates call a "knack" for this rebounding gig. A shot is missed, she is there to haul it in. Simple really.

"She has the same mentality as I do, and that's not something you can teach," said Truncale, who, like Laws, has long fingers and strong hands. "If you want to get the rebound, go after it and get it. Jumping ability has a lot to do with it, and she has a 25-inch vertical, which puts her head and shoulders above everybody else, literally."

Laws has had four games this season already with double-digit rebounds, and her 47 offensive rebounds rank eighth in the conference. She turns most of those into immediate points. And that's been a trait of hers since playing with Ivy in high school.

"She just comes out of nowhere and gets an o-board and an easy layup," said Ivy, a junior starting guard for Philadelphia University. "She scored in high school. She's just really good at timing.

"There were moments where I'm like, 'How did she get that rebound?' Her arms go all the way back and she can just bend her back -- I think that's some of the gymanstics -- and I'll be like, 'I don't know how she did that.' I think I'd pull something if my back went that far back. Her body just bends. I didn't get that characteristic."

CREATING CHANCES

Getting putback baskets isn't the only way Laws generates instant offense.

Laws' quickness has been tough for opponents to contain. She's able to get to the basket quite easily, whether it be by beating a defender along the baseline or taking the ball to the hoop from the top of the key. And once Laws gets near the rim, she's great at finishing or getting to the foul line.

She's attempted 121 free throws this season, second-most in the America East Conference, and 73 more than her next closest teammate.

Despite contact and crowds in the paint -- she almost always has defenders collapse in the lane -- Laws is able to make acrobatic moves to still get the ball up in the air with a chance to go in the basket. That's due largely to great body control -- another benefit of gymnastics.

"If you ask anyone on the team, I'd rather have someone guard me and someone be in my way that's going to foul me than take a wide-open shot," Laws said with a laugh. "I'm more likely to get an and-one, that's what I think."

BRIGHT FUTURE

Laws readily admits she is yet to have an "all-around" game.

Improved range on her jumper only will make her tougher to defend, and she has gained more confidence to take those shots this season. She's even attempted eight three-pointers. She had never shot one during a game before -- not in middle school or high school (where she played in the post) and not even in AAU (when she was a guard).

And she still can get better at ballhandling, a skill that has dramatically improved since high school. Dribbling was something she simply was not allowed to do much then, and when she had to, it brought on an "uh-oh, this could be bad" reaction.

But there's certainly time for all of that with two collegiate seasons left. And the skills she's shown so far have been enough to make many in the program believe by then, she'll be among the school's best.

"In the past, we've been fortunate to have unbelievably star players here in Bess Greenberg, Sarah Cartmill, Leah Truncale. Can Rachel fit into that catagory? Yeah," Conover said. "I don't feel like Rachel is looking at that mantle, and we're not ready to hang that tag on her, but who knows what the next two years can bring?

"She certainly has the talent to be that type of star. I think when it's all said and done, she's going to put up numbers that compare to those players that have played in the program."

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