As a point guard, assisting is no problem for Bailey Cummins.
The Bracken County graduate has put together another strong season at Shawnee State University, where she’s assisted the Bears to a No. 7 rank in NAIA Division I with a 16-3 overall record and a perfect 3-0 mark in Mid-South Conference play.
“Things have been good. We’re playing good as a team here lately,” said Cummins. “Second semester is tough week by week. It’s tough conference game after conference game, but up to this point things have been going well.”
Cummins has started all 19 games Shawnee State has played this season and averages a team-high 33 minutes per game. She’s averaging 11.5 points – the third-best mark on the team behind Ashton Lovely and Hannah Miller’s 17.9 and 11.6 points per game, respectively – and adds 4.7 rebounds.
The junior is providing the passing for several of her teammates, adding 5.7 assists per game to the stat sheet. The average is good for eighth in the country while her total of 108 assists is fourth-best in the country.
“My teammates, coaches – any accomplishment I’ve had would not have been able to happen without them. I have a great support system with my family and friends,” said Cummins.
“We have lot of depth and we understand some nights some of us are on fire and it’s other nights for other people,” added Cummins. “We have people contribute every night and if we’re doing our job we’re going to be hard to stop.”
Cummins has been one of the Bears “on fire” lately with milestone after milestone.
In a 105-58 win over West Virginia Institute of Technology on December 29, she set a single-game school record with 15 assists, recording half of the 30 Shawnee State had in the blowout. She followed it with a 19-point performance the next night as the Bears edged out University of Saint Francis, 75-72.
In the next game – an 81-58 victory over University of Pikeville – Cummins hit the 1,000-point mark in her career, becoming the 33rd player in program history to reach the milestone.
“It was awesome,” said Cummins. “I had a bunch of family and friends there. They kind of knew it was coming, so it was nice they planned to all come and I was able to make it at a home game.”
She didn’t settle for that, either. The very next game, Cummins recorded the first triple-double in over a decade for Shawnee State women’s basketball. She finished the 104-63 win over University of the Cumberlands with 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
Cummins is currently one of three players in the country to have reached the feat in a game this season. Central Methodist’s Lajanea Kimbrough has one and Talladega’s Brijanee Moore has four so far.
“I really had no idea that I was even close or anything. Nobody knew. My assistant coach pulled me aside after the game and said, ‘Did you know?’” said Cummins. “I don’t know, I just didn’t feel stat-wise – points I knew because they keep track of on the scoreboard and stuff – but I just had the hot hand and my teammates allowed me to get assists and with the rebounds I was in right place at right time.”
She owes much of her success and growth throughout her collegiate career to her confidence, which has stemmed from a coaching staff led by sixth-year Shawnee State head coach Jeff Nickel.
“I think, personally, I’ve just gotten more confident with the ball and on both sides – offense and defense,” said Cummins. “My coaches have helped me and Coach Nickel helped me be a better defender coming into this season. It’s just confidence, really, with my three-ball and floater and being able to see the floor like you need to playing at this level.”
They’ll need that defense to continue playing well as they continue to move through conference play. The Bears are scheduled to travel to Lindsey Wilson College on Thursday and Georgetown College a week after that, before hosting No. 6 Campbellsville on Jan. 26.
Campbellsville currently has the top-scoring offense in the country at 91.4 points per game, while Shawnee State comes in at third, averaging 85.3 points. Shawnee State allowed 59.7 points per game through the first 19 games, ranking 18th in the country.
Cummins is hoping the team can continue to play well throughout the remainder of the regular season, as well as in the Mid-South Conference Tournament. She has the goal of making it to the NAIA semifinals, and hopefully further.
“I want to make it to final four with the team,” said Cummins. “Once you get to the final four, anything can happen.”
Personally, she’s planning on not settling for what she’s accomplished so far in her career at Shawnee State. She’s already made her mark in the program’s record book, and with a full season left after this one, she has plenty more she’d like to do.
“It’s one of those things that when you accomplish something as an athlete, you have to stay hungry to better yourself. You always want something more. Accomplishments aren’t personal. Assists are as much your teammates as yourself. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to do that and the same with scoring 1,000 points,” said Cummins. “It’s one of those things where you have to stay humble and try to do something more. You always want to get better any way you can.”
