Montgomery-Stephanie Torrence, Knoxville, Tenn., came to Auburn Montgomery last season looking to make an impact on the Lady Senators basketball team. Her talent was always noticeable, but making the jump into the college game is not always easy.

Torrence learned her lessons well on her way to playing in 23 games last season as a true freshman. She averaged just over eight minutes a game averaging over two points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

She will enter the 2010-11 season with a chance to earn even more playing time so she knew she would spend the summer working on becoming a better player, she just did not realize the players she would be playing with to help her improve her game.

For several years there has been a men's summer league team in the Knoxville area where several former college and professional players join current college and professional players on teams sponsored by local businesses and corporations.

This summer, that expanded that to include a women's league which is called the Women's Pilot Rocky Top League. The league is made up of six teams and Torrence plays for team DeRoyal. The teams are made up of players from the University of Tennessee, Tennessee Tech and several local colleges. The teams will play two games a week for three weeks before embarking into a tournament round where a champion is crowned.

Some of Torrence's teammates include Alicia Manning, Alyssia Brewer and Angie Bjorkland, all from the University of Tennessee. Bjorkland pumped in 35 points in one of last week's games.

"I am really enjoying playing in the league," Torrence said. "It is a great learning experience because I am playing with some of the greatest players in the country."

Torrence is also making quite a name for herself. She scored 19 points in the team's opening game of the season and is currently averaging 12 points, five rebounds and five assists per game.

"I think it will really prepare me for the upcoming season and it is keeping me in great basketball shape," Torrence said.

Head coach Dan Davis saw a lot of improvement over the course of Torrence's freshman season and thinks she could see a lot more time on the court in the future.

"Steph really came around towards the last month of the season and started to see good minutes in every game," Davis said. "A big part of that was she really started to apply herself everyday at practice and it was paying off for her. She has a lot of potential and if she continues to apply herself and commits to the things we want her to improve on, she should see an increase in her roll next year. I believe she will do those things because of the results she saw from our spring workouts."

-AUM-