Saxton is Ready to Make Some Noise
From Spurs & Feathers
Victaria Saxton is normally the quiet one, but the senior forward is looking to make a lot of noise on the court in her final season.
“I am quiet, but I’ve opened up a lot,” said Saxton, a team captain in each of the previous two seasons. “I’m growing up! I’m not a kid anymore. I’m the hype-man. I think I’m the best at hyping people up.”
Saxton has proved her mettle on the court to be a team leader. She averaged a career-best 8.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last year, while also ranking sixth in the SEC in blocks per game.
“It’s just timing and paying attention,” Saxton said of her shot-blocking. “You can’t just swing at them. It’s all about timing.”
Her timing is welcomed in other areas as well. With the Gamecocks returning every player from last year, and also welcoming in the nation’s top recruiting class, Saxton aims to be a leader and a mentor as the rookies navigate the landscape of playing big-time college basketball.
“I just try to help everybody,” Saxton said. “If anyone has questions, I try to make sure they feel comfortable enough to come talk to me. Especially with the freshmen, I just try to get them to get to know me and get to know everybody individually. I also build that relationship in talking to a coach. If they don’t feel comfortable in saying something or go to the coach about it, I’ll do that for them.
“We all want to win. We all want to be great.”
“My teammates and coaches are like a family, and they held me together.”
Saxton is also counting on her teammates to help her in her final season for the Garnet and Black.
“I just want to keep growing. I do want to go to the WNBA, and I also want to play overseas,” she said. “I’m just trying to get better every day to reach those goals, and I keep telling my teammates to keep pushing me to get better.
“I’ve been working on getting my confidence up to shoot my mid-range jumper because it’s a really good shot when I’m open. That’s going to help me a lot. I’m working on knowing when and when not to do that.”
After reaching the NCAA Final Four last year, Saxton wants more.
“I had never experienced that since the postseason was cancelled the year before. Making it to the Final Four is something that everybody wants to do. Not everybody can do that. It’s really hard.”
Saxton persevered through some personal struggles, as four members of her family passed away in the last year, including one death during the NCAA Tournament. While Saxton can serve as a mentor to her teammates, she appreciates her mother, Consuelo, and her team for helping her navigate tough times.
“My teammates and coaches are like a family, and they held me together,” she said. “I’m really grateful to have people like them around me. We had three deaths in my family in one week and seeing how strong my mom was as a woman, a sister, and a mom, that really influenced me a lot. I just stayed strong through it all. You’ll never see me down no matter what’s going on. So, my mom is the most influential person to me.”
As she looks beyond basketball, she is inspired by her parents, who both previously worked as parole officers, and is interested in helping troubled youth find their way.
“I want to do anything to help kids that are in the criminal justice system,” Saxton said. “I like to help people. It can be a way to help younger people who can’t get it together.”
Saxton enjoys a good relationship with head coach Dawn Staley and values what she does for her student-athletes on and off the court.
“She’s real,” Saxton said. “She doesn’t sugar coat anything. She’s going to tell you what you’ve done right and what you’ve done wrong. She has so many connections, not just for basketball, but also for outside of basketball. She has connections to help you get into other fields. She can help you in so many things outside of basketball with your life.
“For this season, I’m just looking forward to everyone being great and getting a national championship. Everybody is ready to see everybody succeed on and off the court.”
