It’s safe to say that when her team needs her most, Jaidynn Mason has emerged as a playmaker to break the game open and turn the tide for the Golden Eagles as of late.
In Marquette’s most recent Big East games against DePaul, Providence and Georgetown, the junior guard has stepped up in a variety of ways to help give Marquette “winning plays, such as helping jumpstart a 10-0 run at the start of the second half against the Friars, which ignited a plus-17 differential in the Golden Eagles’ lead from the halftime buzzer to the final whistle.
The Kansas City, Missouri native tallied 18 of Marquette’s 55 points against Georgetown, which tied her season high. While trailing by one in the third quarter against DePaul, Mason had multiple timely shots and assists in the second half en route to a 10-point victory.
But what’s led to this has been Mason’s improvement throughout the summer, cracking the starting lineup a couple games into the season and never looking back.
Marquette head coach Cara Consuegra said that Mason’s fearless play style stood out on film when recruiting her out of the transfer portal this past offseason from Southern Illinois.
“As she’s come here, in the beginning, didn’t quite see it, but she was learning and learning, and now that it’s all kind of clicked, her ability to go north-south, put pressure on the defense, and to have that fearlessness is huge for our team,” Consuegra said.
Mason said the trust she’s built with assistant coach Khadijah Rushdan has helped with the transition to Big East basketball.
“Anything I asked for, she’s there,” Mason said. “I could text her or something, she’ll be like ‘okay, let’s get it in tomorrow’, and it doesn’t matter, anything I need, she’s just there, and I really appreciate her.”
After the DePaul game on Feb. 15, Consuegra started referring to Mason’s role as a “fireball” due to her blend of energy and speed.
“I just said, ‘You’re our fireball,'” Consuegra said. “You think about a fireball streaking across the sky, that’s who she is, and that’s who she has to be for us to accomplish our goals in transition.”
Senior guard Lee Volker said that the iron-sharpens-iron aspect of last spring’s coaching change helped not just Mason, but the entire team surpass preseason expectations and foster growth.
“Everyone’s got to earn their spot, so it’s very competitive, and I think that’s helped us all get a lot better because we’ve all rose to that occasion,” Volker said. “Jaidynn especially had a great growth mindset, she comes in every day ready to learn, and I think that’s what’s helped her get to where she’s at right now.”
Mason said that blocking out the outside hoopla and focusing on the backboard in transition is key to her mentality on fast breaks.
“Stay aggressive, don’t think about what’s coming behind me, I just be in the room, that’s all I think about,” Mason said.
As the Golden Eagles gear up for the stretch run of Big East and postseason play, Volker said that maintaining energy and avoiding rushed decisions are key elements of Mason’s game that serve as a spark plug for the rest of the squad.
“I love playing with Jaidynn on the court,” Volker said. “She competes every possession and that makes it easy. She’s a great teammate; she’s always going to make the right decision whether it’s a shot for her or finding the next open player. She’s really fun to play with, and she has great defensive energy, she leads our team with that and gets us all going.”
This article was written by Mikey Severson. He can be reached at michael.severson@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU.
