Emily Hanley has had a chance to spread her wings this season as a starting forward for the ISU women’s basketball team.

It has been a waiting game for the senior, who like a caterpillar patiently waiting in its cocoon for something better, has been an off the bench player in seasons past.

Now a butterfly, Hanley has been able to show off her new wings and has developed into one of the leaders in every statistic and aspect of the game.

“Here’s a person who has paid her dues and so she has the opportunity to step in and start as a senior, in her fifth year…How could anybody embrace that better than she has?” ISU head coach Stephanie Glance said.

Her role has completely evolved from past years to this one. The Bloomington native transferred to ISU after playing her freshman year at Eastern Michigan. After sitting out a year for NCAA eligibility, she played the past two seasons coming off the bench, averaging 16.8 minutes per game last season with 5.3 points per game and 3.7 rebounds.

Now in the starting lineup, Hanley’s statistics are impressive from top to bottom. She averages 31 minutes per game and leads the team in scoring with 15 points per game, including a career-high 24 points that she achieved Dec. 4 against Illinois-Chicago.  

In the same game she also pulled down a career high 13 rebounds, another category where she is a leader for the Redbirds, averaging eight boards per game.

Along with her role on the team, the forward’s thought process has also evolved.

“When I used to just play 15 minutes, or whatever, a game, I knew that when I came in, I had to produce. If I didn’t, I wasn’t going to get reps and so that mentality I think has kind of turned over to a starter,” Hanley said. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re only going to be in for 15 minutes or 30 — you have to produce no matter how much you’re going to be in.”

To go along with the mindset that every minute matters, Hanley also views her stats as an added bonus that she would be satisfied with either way.

“I just try to take on that [producing] role and do what I can for our team. If those stats keep up, that’s great, but as long as we win, I’m fine with that,” Hanley said.

According to Glance, Hanley’s mindset, combined with her productivity on the court, work ethic and leadership qualities are all characteristics that give her the “perfect mentality” as a player.

“She doesn’t focus on how many points she’s going to score or how many rebounds she’s going to get. She does not focus on stats, she focuses on giving her best all the time and the results are on the stat sheet,” Glance said. “When you have a player who does that and they’re able to do it consistently, everyday in practice, then they’re able to produce the results that we see.”

In regards to her work ethic, she leads by example as both a senior and one of the team’s captains and utilizes practice time to the fullest.

“She is a person who has tremendous character an that character is reflected on the court in the way that she plays and how hard she plays, how hard she works,” Glance said. “There is not one second of a practice that [Emily] is not giving everything she has…she maxes out everything she could possibly get out of herself every game and every practice.”

With the stretching of her wings this season, it appears Hanley’s true colors are getting its opportunity to shine.