As college debuts go, Abbie Johns couldn’t have asked for much more.

The Kiski Area grad opened her freshman season with the Shippensburg women’s basketball team by scoring 14 points in just 16 minutes against then-No. 10 Fayetteville State. In fact, Johns made her first shot: a 3-pointer late in the first quarter that pulled Shippensburg within one. (Fayetteville State went on to a convincing 72-48 win.)

Johns made the transition from high school to Division II competition look seamless. But no one said it would be that easy, and Johns had no delusions about the travails she would face.

Over the next eight games, her high point total was seven, and she failed to score in two games: against Texas A&M Kingsville on Nov. 30 and against nationally ranked Gannon on Dec. 7 in a PSAC crossover game.

“It’s definitely a difference from high school,” said Johns, a 5-foot-8 guard. “Everyone is stronger, faster and the pace of the overall game is just different, so it took a little bit to adjust to.

“I knew that coming into college. I knew there was a lot of skill on the team, so I just tried to do what I do and contribute any way I can.”

Gradually, her contributions have picked up. Beginning with the Raiders’ 94-84 overtime win against Clarion on Dec. 21, Johns has played at least 17 minutes in every game. And in that game against Clarion, she played 27 minutes — a personal high through the first 18 games — and scored a season-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Two games later, against Kutztown, she had 15 points in 19 minutes.

She entered the week averaging 5.6 points per game in 18.1 minutes per game.

“I’m not really sure what sparked me like that,” Johns said about the Clarion game. “But I definitely feel like it made me more confident. I felt good about how I finished in the game with my 3s and just being consistent at the free-throw line as well.”

Longtime Raiders coach Kristy Trn expected nothing less from Johns. Trn, a Plum grad, said one of the qualities that endeared Johns to her in the recruiting process was her scorer’s mentality. That was something the Raiders desperately needed as they tried to replace Ariel Jones, the PSAC’s all-time scoring leader with 2,806 points, who graduated in 2023.

Still, Trn knew Johns would be a work in progress along with the rest of the five-member freshman class. Trn said she expected each of them would be able to contribute — Rylee Kraft cracked the starting lineup until she was derailed by a season-ending injury — but understood there would be a learning curve.

For Johns, the biggest jump she needed to make was on defense.

“She needs to get a little bit quicker and sort of understanding some of our concepts to our defense,” said Trn, in her 26th year at the helm. “Our defense is predicated on very strong ball pressure and everyone else sort of being in gaps.”

Offensively, Johns has required some reprogramming in terms of where to be on the floor. Rather than running to the ball, as she did throughout high school, Johns, in Trn’s offense, instead is asked to run to gaps where the ball is going to go.

Trn also expects Johns to become a better rebounder once she understands how much more physical she needs to be at the Division II level.

“You physically have to get into the body of someone and box out,” the coach said. “You can’t just look at the rim and go get the ball.”

The team’s winter break enabled Johns to stop and take a breath. As she and her teammates remained on campus without the extra weight of classes on their minds, Johns said they were able to get to know each other better and work together without any distractions.

Now, as the demands of the college game as well as her responsibilities on both sides of the ball begin to sink in, Johns is able to focus on specifics of her game to continue her upward trajectory.

“I feel like I just want to become more consistent overall, quarter by quarter being more consistent,” she said, “not just scoring one quarter and then being absent for the next two or three … and not necessarily just scoring, but better passes, offensive rebounds.

“Throughout the season, there has been some ups and downs with my confidence, but, overall, I feel more confident (now).”

Shippensburg entered the week already with more overall wins than it had last season. In the PSAC East, the Raiders are 4-8 after a 64-56 loss to Lock Haven on Wednesday. With no team in the East separating itself from the pack in the first half of the season, Shippensburg remains on solid footing in terms of reaching the conference tournament.

Johns and her freshman teammates are expected to continue being a large part of the equation. In addition to Johns, McKenzie Thomas and Michelle Olak are getting significant minutes alongside seniors Abbie Miller and Taja Colbert.

A number of sophomores also are playing key roles for the Raiders, so the future appears promising. Trn is confident Johns will be a big part of that future.

“I hope she wants to be a 1,000-point scorer. I hope she wants to be a captain and a leader on this team,” Trn said. “She has all those skills. I feel she has the potential to be one of those guards we have been known for who can have that type of career … and, hopefully, is a first-team all-conference selection by the time she’s a senior.”

Said Johns: “I try not to think too far into the future because you never really know what will happen. But I’m definitely excited for my whole career here.”

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