MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With a young roster set to take the court for the Shepherd Rams this past winter, Frankfort High School graduate Abby Beeman knew that playing time could come her way.
As a freshman, Beeman almost never left the court, averaging 38.5 minutes per contest.
“I did expect to play right away but I didn’t know I would play as many minutes as I actually did,” Beeman said. “I am happy with the way it all turned out.
“We had two freshmen starting so it took us a while to jell in preseason. But once we did, we hit the ground running.”
Beeman’s transition from a top-tier Class AA program in Frankfort to the Division II game was as seamless as could be expected. When asked at what point she became comfortable at the college level, Beeman says the Rams’ third game was a turning point.
“When we played Lincoln (University), that was kind of my breakout game. That’s when I felt like I am doing what I did in high school right now. That’s the game I realized that I really can compete here.”
The Rams defeated Lincoln 77-72 in overtime in that contest. Beeman scored a team-best 29 points while making 7 of 11 shots from beyond the arc.
Shepherd was one of the first schools to focus in on Beeman during the recruiting process. Head coach Jenna Eckelberry played point guard at Fairmont State. As an undersized guard at 5-foot-2, Eckelberry understood what makes the 5-foot-4 Beeman excel.
“They liked to play fast just like I do. She was a point guard so she understands I am small, but she was small as well. She gets how I play my game.”
Beeman filled up the stat sheets on a nightly basis for the Rams. She led Shepherd in points per game (19.7), three-pointers (63), assists per game (7.3) and minutes played (1155). Beeman led Division II in total assists (219) and her 592 points were the most ever scored by a Shepherd freshman. For her efforts, Beeman was named the PSAC East Division Freshman of the Year.
“I would be lying if I said I thought I could be, well, I knew I could be freshman of the year. But I wasn’t sure I would be because you never know what kind of girls other teams have coming in and how talented they are.”
Shepherd went 21-9 this past winter and they will welcome back all five starters in the 2020-2021 season.
“Playing teams like IUP, Cal U., that is some tough competition right there. But I think it made us better playing in such a great conference. I love that every night it is a competition. You are not going to have a blowout game. You are always going to have to come ready to play.”
At Shepherd, Beeman became teammates with two of her fiercest high school rivals. North Marion’s Cara Minor and Fairmont Senior’s Anglea DiLorenzo competed in the same region as Beeman and the Frankfort Falcons.
“I honestly wasn’t sure how it would be, knowing that we did have those battles — big ones at that, like regional championships. But it is kind of funny now because Cara and I are like best friends and we are going to be rooming together. And Angela and I are great friends.”
Beeman led Frankfort to a pair of state semifinal appearances in 2018 and 2019.
“People may not think we had a deep team, but we had girls that would always challenge me in practice. They would put two on me and they honestly made me better everyday in practice. Just being able to be a leader on that team has helped me make such a big impact off the court as well.”