CARBONDALE - As a star basketball player for Mount Vernon, Katie Wagner scored nearly 1,700 career points.

But that was then, and this is now.

Four years of Division I softball later, Wagner will spend her final year of NCAA eligibility on the hardwood for the Southern Illinois University women's basketball team.

"I think I'm coming along," Wagner said. "I think my feet are getting under me a little bit better and I think I can run up and down the court with (my teammates)."

Wagner has been scrimmaging with her new teammates at Davies Gym several times a week. She was matched up against 6-foot forward Katrina Swingler, who will be a junior in the fall, in Tuesday's action.

"She's aggressive and a good rebounder," Swingler said. "She doesn't stop. You can't take your eyes off of her."

The 5-8 Wagner gives up several inches to Swingler, but that didn't stop the former Lady Ram from giving it all she had against her taller foe.

"Defense is getting there too," Wagner said. "I definitely have to work on my shot. That's the one thing I gotta keep working on every day."

Aside from an impressive one-handed layup on Monday, Wagner's offense remains a work in progress. But with roughly four months to go before the season begins in November, plenty of time remains to knock the rust off.

"Those are always fun when you can pull them off," Wagner said of the layup. "Every day I learn something new that I need to work on.

"My shot is still there, but it's shooting on the move. I can shoot stationary, but once I've got to move and get around the defenders, I've got to be stronger with my legs."

Wagner credits Swingler and Christine Presswood for helping to further her along.

"The only thing I've really told her is 'Keep playing hard,'" Presswood said. "And you don't really even have to tell her that. She works so hard on the floor that she makes her presence known.

"We need somebody to talk. We only have a couple older classmen this year and she can definitely contribute to the team by talking."

pete.spitler@thesouthern.com /618-351-5073