Named most improved by her fellow ADM volleyball players last month, Tigers senior forward Kenzi Sutton has made an early push to earn that same distinction in girls basketball.

Despite playing against taller opponents in the post most of the time, Sutton excels as a rebounder and defender. After all, for her, it’s old hat.

“Yeah, ever since I was little I was always playing against taller girls than me, so I’ve just always known that I needed to have good, strong defense and be able to box out and rebound for my team,” Sutton said.

Sutton’s defense and rebounding have been rock solid again this year. Through four games, she is second on the team with 7.3 rebounds per game and leads ADM with 15 offensive rebounds. It’s on the offensive end where she’s surprised a bit.

Sutton broke out against Pella Christian last Tuesday, when she scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting, several of those makes coming after one of her four offensive rebounds. After averaging 4.2 points per game last year, Sutton is up to 8.5 a contest right now, and has attempted more than half the amount of shots she put up all of last season. She also put in hard work this offseason to improve upon her 40% free throw rate. So far this season, she is 12-for-17 from the line and is showing excellent form.

There’s still plenty of season left, but Sutton said she believes she can keep it up. Her next opportunity is tomorrow night, when ADM hosts Carroll in the front-end of a doubleheader.