There was no telling what Loyola women’s basketball’s Kimmie Hicks’ freshman season was going to look like last year, but it didn’t necessarily start the way the Annapolis native expected.
Through her first nine games, Hicks averaged seven minutes per game, far from the introduction to college basketball she was expecting. However, following a 63-50 loss to Monmouth in late December, something changed.
Hicks saw a significant minutes increase for the rest of the year on her way to Patriot League All-Rookie Team honors. The 5-foot-9 guard averaged 11.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in the Greyhounds’ last 18 games. She started Loyola’s final five contests.
“I was just working hard in practice, playing hard, doing whatever my coaches needed me to do,” Hicks said. “… The end of the season was a spark for me to let me know that I am a good player and I do play a big role on this team.”
That success only added to her confidence. As a sophomore, Hicks has emerged as the team’s leading scorer and one of its best rebounders. She averaged 14.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as part of a 5-4 start.
“When we first started recruiting Kimmie, we thought that she could be an all-conference-level performer,” head coach Danielle O’Banion said. “She had a typical first year, first semester where she was learning our system, adapting to the college style of play. I’m really happy for her that she stayed with it. … What she’s doing right now is not a surprise.”
Loyola needs Hicks to fill a big role with significant voids in the lineup, most notably Patriot League preseason Player of the Year Lex Therien. The senior forward will miss the remainder of the season due to injury.
“A couple of my teammates are out right now, so I know this is a year for me to step up, and that’s what I’ve done,” Hicks said.
Hicks’ efficiency is on the rise this year as well. She shot 44.9 percent from the floor, 47.6 percent from 3-point range and 83.7 percent from the free throw line in Loyola’s first nine games — all improvements from a year ago.
Everything is clicking at the right time, especially her perimeter shooting. Hicks worked in the offseason to find a quicker release on her shot, and it has paid dividends already.
“Over the summer, I was on the shooting machine, shooting a lot every day, trying to find that quicker release,” Hicks said. “Not pushing the ball, simple things that you just have to adjust yourself. Constant repetition will get me the results that I need.”
Hicks is taking on a lot of responsibility in 2024-25, but O’Banion and her staff knew exactly the player they were recruiting.
Hicks was a standout at Saint Frances Academy, one of the best girls’ basketball programs in Maryland, so the spotlight is nothing new to her. She just needed to get adjusted to the college level to find her stride.
“I don’t know that there was a breakout moment that I can recall last year,” O’Banion said. “It was just her understanding her mentality and how to work in a college basketball environment. Once those two things intersected with each other, we knew that she would take off.”
Hicks now has a better understanding of what works and doesn’t work at the college level, allowing her to flourish.
“Confidence is a big piece in everything that you do, everything that surrounds you,” Hicks said. “If you don’t have confidence in yourself, no one around you will have confidence in you.”
It’s just Year 2 for Hicks, so there’s still plenty left to learn, plenty left to understand and plenty left to discover about her game, but she has already established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the Patriot League and across the mid-major college basketball scene.
“Once I got my opportunity, you can’t get something like that and not do anything with it,” Hicks said. “I got it and I took advantage of it.”
Photo Credit: Larry French