Central Valley grad Lexie Hull emerging as solid defender, expanding role with Indiana Fever

LAS VEGAS – When a coach inherits the worst team in the league, the hope is finding qualities in players who can benefit the roster, be it in the locker room, with work ethic, or with a 94-foot game that can trigger opportunities at both ends of the floor.

With Lexie Hull, first-year Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides scored a trifecta.

“She was in Indianapolis a lot of the times when I was there in the offseason,” Sides said.

When Hull wasn’t there, and was traveling with her boyfriend, minor league baseball player Will Matthiessen, she was checking in from different cities, different gyms, and different weight rooms, assuring Sides the work was being put in.

“I think Lexie went into the offseason last year and knew she needed to put in some work, and I know she did that,” Sides added.

As a result, the former five-star recruit from Central Valley High has gone from starting four of the 26 games she played in last season, to starting 13 of 15 games on one of the most improved team in the WNBA.

The Fever, who had just five wins last season but picked up their fifth win 12 games into this season, are knocking on the door for a top-eight seed two weeks before the All-Star Break.

Much of that can be attributed to the addition of WNBA Rookie of the Year front-runner Aliyah Boston, but the supporting cast around her includes Hull, who is averaging 4.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

But it’s more than stats with Hull, whose playing time has increased by 5.4 minutes per game since last year.

An example came against the Las Vegas Aces during a recent back-to-back visit with the defending champs and the Fever needing a spark.

Down 18 points, Hull hit from long range, then sprinted to the other end of the court and disrupted Jackie Young’s 3-point attempt. Back at the other end, after getting A’ja Wilson to commit her third personal foul, Kelsey Mitchell hit two free throws. Moments later, Hull drove the paint for a finger-roll layup to make it an 11-point game.

“That’s her effectiveness, she’s just that active,” Sides said . “She’s active on the defensive end, which gets deflections and causes steals. And then she’s running the floor. She’s getting layups because she’s running the floor. She’s just doing everything we’re asking her to do, and that’s going to help us in the long run. I appreciate Lexie’s hustle and just her willingness to do whatever the team needs.”

The growth

It wasn’t an easy rookie season for Hull, as it was the first time she’d been away from her twin sister, Lacie.

She also experienced losing more games in one season than she did in her entire career at Stanford.

The Fever got their fifth win in their 18th game and lost the rest of the way.

And it wasn’t until the end of the season that she saw her minutes increase. She put her skills to work at both ends of the floor, while also seeing the areas she’d put to work in the offseason.

Hull remained poised and employed the maturity and discipline she brought with her from Stanford, California, knowing her rookie season was part of a long process while keeping one simple mentality at the forefront.

“Knowing that basketball is just basketball,” she said. “And just knowing that I put the work in, that eventually that will come on the court, and game by game hoping that I can work hard and get better and contribute as best I can. I think there are times when you’re like, especially as a rookie, you’re in the game and you feel like you have to do something – like, this is your chance to contribute. And I think sitting back and just realizing that being patient things will happen, things will come, and don’t force anything.

“That’s something that I think I’m (still) learning.”

It’s something Boston has quickly picked up on, among other things.

“Just her ability to stay engaged,” Boston said. “Lexie guards teams’ best players a lot of the times, and so she’s just always engaged no matter what happens, she never takes possessions off. And so that kind of just amps you up, you see Lexie getting a steal, getting a deflection, and you’re like, ‘ OK, I gotta do the same.’”

Unlimited game

Like several before her, Hull got a full boost of confidence after playing in Athletes Unlimited’s second season, winning the defensive player of the year.

Hull averaged 12.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, and tied for first in the league with 26 steals. She also had 12 blocked shots in 15 games.

If there is anyone who saw her growth in a matter of five weeks, the length of an Athletes Unlimited season, it was Fever veteran Kelsey Mitchell.

“She’s amazing first off, as a person,” said Mitchell, who has starred in Athletes Unlimited for two straight seasons. “But her work ethic is phenomenal. She’ll do whatever you ask, and that’s the blessing, and you don’t come across a lot of people like that. And more importantly on the floor, she’s so pesky and defensively sound that she makes our team flow better.”

Having Mitchell, along with Indiana teammate NaLyssa Smith and former Fever interim coach Carlos Knox, in Dallas for the AU season, Hull blended in quicker and came out of her shell with ease.

The familiar faces and the caliber of competition among the 44 women playing in the five-week league were components she was thankful for during her time in Dallas.

“It was really fun, especially weeks where I got to play on the same team with (Mitchell and Smith), play with Carlos,” Hull said.

“So it was great to kind of build that chemistry in the offseason. And for me, I think a big thing that I took out of it was feeling like I could guard anybody.”

Which she’s done well to this point in the schedule, becoming an integral part of Indiana’s lineup.

“And it’s important that we give her her flowers, because she takes on such hard tasks,” Sides said.

“And for us, we’re grateful for that because we know that Lexie will bring it every single possession. You gotta respect people like that, because you don’t find it a lot.”

W.G. Ramirez is a 36-year veteran covering sports in southern Nevada, and a resident of 50 years. He is a freelance reporter in Las Vegas and the southern Nevada correspondent for The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at @WillieGRamirez