The Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team had five newcomers last season. One of them, Jaye Johnson, spent the previous two years at Casper College. So, while she was new to the Cowgirls, she wasn’t new to college basketball. Those two years helped her contribute right away in the Brown and Gold.
“It was good, I’d say,” said Johnson of her time at Casper College. “There was some challenges in my freshman year, but in my sophomore year, it helped me evolve as a player. It helped me become a better player and teammate all around.”
As a sophomore in Casper, Johnson averaged 11.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game, reaching double-figure scoring 21 times. She made the All-Regional Defensive Team and was named to the NJCAA Region IX All-Tournament team after averaging 9.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game during the five-game tournament.
Her rebounding and defense translated immediately to Division I.
“I think I helped out in little parts of the game,” Johnson said. “Getting stops, rebounds, things like that, really helped us.”
“Looking back, I think she was the difference in some of our games (last year),” said head coach Gerald Mattinson. “She had a couple of good games defensively, rebounding and scoring. She made some very big plays for us that made the difference in a couple of games.”