Photos provided In both, Charleston Southern’s Makenna Winans gets off a shot in a Buccaneers’ 2020-21 regular-season game. Winans, who struggled to find playing time at the beginning of the season, is now a regular role player for head coach Fred Applin.

PARKERSBURG — Charleston Southern true freshman Makenna Winans faced several challenges upon arriving for her inaugural season at the Division I program.

Upon hitting the practice court, much of what she knew about basketball was about to be turned upside down.

“I used to play four games in one day in AAU and be perfectly fine. Now, one game is so much faster,” she said.

Not only are the games faster, but the players are stronger and the talent level is comparable to hers. Things no longer slant in Winans favor down low on the block or anywhere else on the court.

And if that wasn’t enough, for the first time in her career, she feared being labeled “the girl who missed every shot she takes,” upon actually seeing playing time.

Everything melded into a daunting perspective.

“I thought this year might be a learning year and I would just get used to what is going on,” she said.

And through her opening five games, this outlook appeared spot on. Her playing time averaged 6.4 minutes per game, during which she averaged four points.

Head coach Fred Applin wanted more out of her, though.

“The first thing I did was I sat her down and told her that we want her to shoot the basketball and not worry about missing the first shot. Go play the next play, and you aren’t going to make all of them. Shooting the ball is something she earned and she can take a three-pointer or a jumper,” he said.

Much has changed over the last 13 games. After connecting on all four 3-point attempts and scoring 14 points in a 58-53 Big South conference win over Hampton Dec. 22, Winans has found her confidence and watched her playing time dramatically increase.

The six-foot forward is an important piece of the rotation for CSU, which enters its Feb. 12 game against Longwood on a seven-game losing streak and 6-12 overall. She has started eight of those games — on the court an average of 20.6 minutes, and averaging 5.7 points per game, good for seventh on the team. That calculation includes matching her season-high in a Jan. 10 loss to Gardner Webb, and an 11-point outing against UNC Asheville six days later.

Winans has spent most of her time playing at the 4 — where her other contributions shine through just as much as her scoring. She leads the team with 15 blocked shots and has pulled down 75 rebounds.

All of it is exactly what Applin expected to see from one of his newest members.

“When we recruited her she could shoot it, pass it, and rebound well and she is doing all of that for us right now. It has really helped her college level and she can really shoot the three consistently as a big and that helps her offensive package,” he said.

Applin’s also been impressed with how well she fit into the team alongside fellow West Virginian and Musselman grad Janaia Fargo.

“Everyone loves her and she has come in and accepted our standards,” he said.

For a player who finished as a two-time Class AAA All-State first-team member at Parkersburg South, the objective is to keep getting stronger and help her team end its losing streak.

“I just need to do better each time out and rebound and score more in the next game,” she said.

That follows closely with what Applin wants to see from her the rest of the season.

“I want her to be consistent and take the open shot, rebound the ball and her self confidence will follow. She has come in and made her stamp so far,” he said.