ISU's COVID-conscious Curry wants to make most of her fourth school in five years

Dec. 24—While COVID-19 continues to stick its nose into sports headlines, Indiana State women's basketball player Tonysha Curry doesn't think her family gatherings for Christmas weekend will make her extra vulnerable to contracting the virus.

That's because some of her family members work in the medical field and they've taken the recommended precautions to limiting exposure to COVID.

"We're wearing masks and we have hand sanitizers everywhere," Curry told the Tribune-Star. "It's a norm for now . . . to just try and stay safe."

So Curry, a 5-foot-10 guard/forward from Louisville and a graduate student who previously played for three other colleges over four seasons (Richmond in 2017-18, Florida Southwestern State in 2018-19 and Stetson in 2019-21) before landing at ISU for an NCAA-allowed fifth season (because of COVID eligibility guidelines set in 2020), is ready to take on the Missouri Valley Conference for the first time. That will start Thursday at Drake inside the Knapp Center at Des Moines, Iowa.

Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. EST.

The Bulldogs, who battled through their pre-conference schedule carrying an 8-3 mark, were selected to finish second in the MVC in the annual preseason poll of coaches, sports information directors and media. They are coached by Allison Pohlman.

So far, ISU is 5-6 overall — matching its victory total for each of the previous two seasons — with Curry averaging 5.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per outing. She's played in all 11 games, starting five of the Sycamores' last six.

A few days ago, Curry was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week.

Asked to explain how she ended up at Indiana State, Curry didn't mention anything bad about her previous colleges, coaches or teammates . . . and she remembers current ISU coach Chad Killinger recruiting her (unsuccessfully) when he coached at Moberly Area Community College.

Although she didn't choose his school that time, he left a favorable enough impression to give ISU a shot this time.

"She's a hard-working kid," Killinger said. "She brings a lot of energy to the program and her [position] versatility is really nice to have. . . . She'd be one of our emergency point guards."

Plus, there's another reason Curry picked ISU.

"Indiana State definitely had a graduate program that appealed to me," said Curry, who is studying physical education and coaching. "Also, [ISU] is closer to home. My family lives in Charlestown, Ind., and I had been away from home my entire college career. So [the decision] was kinda like a homecoming thing."

In addition, the 22-year-old Curry is interested in sports management.

"I want to get into coaching," she elaborated. "But I also want to get into training and hopefully one day manage my own sports facility."

Turning her attention to her final season of college basketball, Curry said she didn't know any of her current teammates when she announced she was coming here. But all reached out to welcome her to the program soon afterward, which confirmed to Curry that she made the right choice.

No stranger to making new friends, Curry quickly gelled with longtime and other new Sycamores to form the 2021-22 unit that will try to take significant steps upward in the MVC standings. Last season's group, coached by Vicki Hall, finished 2-12 in league games and ninth out of 10 teams in the conference.

"She shows up every day and works extremely hard," Killinger said of Curry. "We're trying to make this [playing only one season at ISU] as positive of an experience for her as possible. Also, I think she's trying to make the most of this last opportunity that she has to play the game."

"I definitely think we're competing," Curry assessed. "That's one thing I love about this team. We work so hard. Every day, we come in — in practice, with weights and everything — I can see me and my teammates working so hard every day. . . . We've competed with some very, very good programs and we've had a lot of very close games. So it's just been fun and competitive."

Specifically, four of ISU's six losses have been by 10 points or less. So Curry and Killinger acknowledge that the Sycamores still need to improve on some things heading into the MVC campaign.

"I know it's a competitive conference," Curry noted. "I know Drake is a very good team. I'm just really looking to compete. . . . I'm ready to shock a lot of people who may not believe we can win games or people who may not believe in us yet."

"From a mental standpoint, I'd say we're prepared [for the conference]," Killinger added. "We've faced a lot of different adversities [including injuries to key personnel] and I think we've handled those pretty well.

"Each opportunity is a chance to go out and continue to prove ourselves and grow as a team . . . and for our players to grow individually. This year is really about trying to help [the players] understand that they can be successful."