By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Mia Nicastro’s smile spoke as loud as her voice.

It was noisy in Western Hall on Saturday as Western Illinois’ men’s basketball team was warming up for its game against Southeast Missouri State.

The Leathernecks’ women’s team had just finished a 94-66 win in the first game of the Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader with the Redhawks, and Nicastro was happy to talk about not just her 29-point, 8-rebound game, but also about the opportunity she’s been given at her new school.

“Some people may look at our conference record (4-6 in OVC play after Saturday’s win) and say, ‘Oh, maybe they’re struggling a little bit,” Nicastro said. “I’m enjoying the struggle, I’m enjoying the grind, I’m enjoying the process. And, comparatively, to where I’ve been in the past in my career, this place is really special.”

Nicastro, a 6-foot-2 junior forward, is averaging 14.2 points and 6.7 rebounds this season for the Leathernecks after transferring last spring, making a quick adjustment to a new program.

“I think,” Western Illinois coach JD Gravina said, “she’s having a lot of fun.”

Nicastro, who is from St. Charles, Missouri, began her career at Saint Louis, where as a freshman she started 24 games for the Billikens, who won the Atlantic 10 Tournament title and reached the NCAA tournament that season. But last season, she played in just 26 games with no starts, averaging just 5.5 minutes per game.

Looking for a new place to play, Nicastro entered the NCAA’s transfer portal and found a place with the Leathernecks.

“I come to practice every day and I’m laughing,” she said. “I’m enjoying myself. I’m smiling. I don’t dread going to practice. And honestly, ‘fun’ isn’t really the word I use to describe it. It’s really more of being grateful for getting this chance.

“I think sometimes, as a collegiate athlete, you do the same thing every day. It’s repetitive. It’s hard on your body, it’s hard on your mind. And you kind of can take for granted what you have. But, you know, when I stop and look around and look at everything that I have here and how special this place is, and how special my teammates are, my coaches are, that’s all I need.”

“She’s really happy here, and getting the experience she wants,” Gravina said. “And I think that rubs off on the other players.”

Nicastro has scored in double figures in 15 of the Leathernecks’ 19 games.

“She’s gaining confidence,” Gravina said. “Sometimes for transfers, it takes some time to adjust. She got off to a really good start, and then I think she had a little bit of reality moments, you know, when things get tough. And now she’s on a long progression where she’s just getting better.”

“I told JD when he was recruiting me, I said, I play the best when I’m having fun, playing freely,” Nicastro said. “And I have a coach who has confidence in me. He gives me the confidence I need, and he also gives me the tough coaching I need. When he needs to be tough, he’s tough, but he’s also shown me that he has that confidence in me, that he believes in me.”

Gravina said Nicastro has fit well into his frontcourt. She is second on the team in rebounding and leads the team with 18 blocked shots, but has made 9 of 30 3-pointers and also is a 85.9-percent free-throw shooter.

“When she came she was very adamant that she was not a post player, which I agree with,” he said. “She’s more of a stretch ‘4.’ But what I told her is, you can do that, but also mix it up around the basket, score around the basket, rebound for us. I told her, if you go 0 for 5 (in 3-pointers) you’re not bringing any value, but for us, you go 0 for 5 from three, you’re still going to be able to bring six other things. And I’m really impressed with the way she embraced that, because she’s mixed it up down in the post pretty well. She’s been our main post defender, she’s done a great job. She’s really rebounded well. So, yeah, that’s big for us.”

As Nicastro said, it’s about having fun and playing freely.

“So many college athletes don’t enjoy where they’re at, and wish they were somewhere else,” she said. “Genuinely, since my time being here, I’ve never felt that way once. It’s very special, and it’s a very rare thing in college athletics these days.”

Her smile said all she needed to say.

“Just to be able to go out and feel like basketball isn’t a chore, that it’s something that I get to do, means a lot,” Nicastro said. “I get to have fun with my teammates. I get to play a Division I sport at a high level.

“And it’s really, really cool.”

Photo: Western Illinois forward Mia Nicastro shoots a free throw in Saturday’s game against Southeast Missouri State. (Photo courtesy of WIU Athletic Communications).