By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

MACOMB, Ill. — It didn’t take long for Western Illinois women’s basketball coach JD Gravina to figure out that Raegan McCowan could make a difference in his team.

Granted, the first time Gravina saw McCowan play for the Missouri Phenom AAU team, he wasn’t sure of the recommendation he had received.

“Then they jump center to start the game, and she jumps about a foot over the other girl,” Gravina said. “Then she scores the first nine points. And I was like, ‘Whoa, this girl’s the real deal.’ From then on out, I was just hoping no one else sees her.”

So Gravina became a master of distraction.

“Seriously, if we were at a game and someone else was watching her, I’d go talk to the other coach and start talking to him, trying to distract him,” Gravina said, laughing. “Maybe they wouldn’t see how good she was.”

In the end, McCowan signed with the Leathernecks, and she’s been just what Gravina thought.

Maybe, he said, even better than expected.

McCowan, a 5-foot-11 guard from Lebanon, Missouri, leads the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring at 18.6 points per game, and is fourth in rebounding with 8.2 per game. In conference games, she ranks third at 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds.

McCowan has been named the OVC’s freshman of the week 10 times, player of the week three times.

“I talked her up coming in. I was scared to do that, because here she is, coming in as a freshman,” Gravina said. “How is she going to live up to the hype? I thought I was being a little careful but I still thought, hey, she has the potential to be the real deal. And she has been great.”

The season has even exceeded what McCowan thought.

“Coming in, I would say I had high expectations in myself, but I think this is, honestly, something I never dreamed of,” she said.

McCowan has scored in double figures in all but one of the Leathernecks’ games this season. She has scored 30 points twice, and has scored 20 points or more in nine games.

Gravina knew his team needed a wing player who could get points inside and out.

I knew she would be a good addition for us, because she’s exactly what we’ve been missing,” he said. “It’s really been a combination of her ability, how we complement her, and the fact that she’s what we have needed for a while.

“It’s just been a perfect storm for her.”

McCowan, though, said it took her a while to fit in with the Leathernecks.

“I think, honestly, in practice, building up your confidence, it’s tough,” McCowan said. “You’re playing against the same girls every day. Once games rolled around, that’s when my confidence started building. And it’s just kept going from there.

“Summer was pretty tough for me. In the summer, everybody is fighting for time. So I think the summer was my biggest adjustment time. By the time the season rolled around, I had pretty much adjusted to the team. And then really, right now, is when I’ve been the most comfortable.”

“When she came in, she was laying a little low with the team, trying to fit in, trying to find her spot,” Gravina said. “Once games started, it was more apparent that this was someone who could lead us, especially offensively.

“She probably thought she was struggling coming in as a freshman. Everything’s new, she’s making mistakes, trying to fit in.”

McCowan said advice from Gravina has helped.

“We talked before the season, and he said I’m going to make freshman mistakes. I’m going to make freshman turnovers,” she said. “But I think him understanding that, knowing that it’s going to happen, giving me a little leeway, it helps a lot.”

“When we’re in a grind-it-out game, having Raegan really helps,” Gravina said. “She can get you baskets in the interior, she can hit some tough shots, she can draw attention from others and get them the ball. She gives us a little more confidence in close games, one-possession games, which is what you’re going to get a lot in the OVC.”

McCowan said Gravina’s recruitment helped her make her decision to sign with Western Illinois.

“The way the staff wanted me here, it just stood out more than any other school,” she said. “How much the staff wanted me, how much JD wanted me and believed in me, too. And definitely the other players — they’re the most genuine people I’ve ever met.”

Those teammates, McCowan said, have helped her confidence.

“I’ll come back to the bench and they’ll be like, ‘They can’t guard you. Keep driving, keep scoring,’” McCowan said. “Them hyping me up makes me realize I’m in this position for a reason, that I should want the ball here, I should score here.”

“She just has what you can’t teach,” Gravina said. “She just has it. She wants the ball down the stretch, and not in a bad way. She takes hard shots, but very rarely have I had to tell her that’s not a shot you want her to take. Sometimes she’s done that, but she’s very coachable.”

Gravina thought back to when he was recruiting her in high school.

“I know there were some other schools looking at her, and there were a couple of schools she visited who didn’t offer her, and they’re probably kicking themselves,” he said. “Looking back, when you think about it, she was probably underrecruited.”

Then he laughed.

“Maybe,” Gravina said, “I did a pretty good job distracting them.”

Photo: Western Illinois guard Raegan McCowan leads the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring as a freshman. (Photo courtesy of WIU Athletic Communications)